Mission: Destroy Shane Gray
by mindless scribbles
Summary: Impressing Sonny Munroe is whole lot harder than it looks. Especially when you're competing against the too-tight-pants-wearing Mr. Stupidpants/Shane Gray . Sonny/Chad, a response to Dancing on Rainbow's Uncliché the Clichés challenge, cliché option 2.
1. Meet Target: Shane Gray

a/n: soo, this is a response to Dancing On Rainbow's Uncliché the Cliché challenge! but other than that, it's just a regular multi-chaptered Sonny/Chad story. oops. did I already tell you what couple it's going to be in the end? heheh.

disclaimer: i absolutely don't own SWAC, Shane Gray, Connect 3. just the plot. :D

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ xScribbles819_

_-_

-1-

Meet Target: Shane Gray

_-_

_He that is not jealous is not in love._

_~St. Augustine_

I rolled his eyes as a loud shriek rang through the hallway. Obviously some fan had found out that _Mackenzie Falls_ was filmed at Condor Studios, and was ecstatic that _the_ Chad Dylan Cooper was here. I quickly adjusted my jacket so it fit just right, looked at myself in the mirror to make sure my beautiful golden hair was perfect (which, it was) and walked slowly out the door, mentally preparing myself so that I wouldn't faint or do something idiotic when an angry mob of girls attacked me.

"Oh my gosh!" A girl's voice screamed. I frowned, that voice seemed too familiar. As I got near the swarm of crazy fangirls, I recognized the brunette, standing on the edge of the crowd on her tiptoes, trying to see over other girls' heads.

_Sonny._ If Sonny was here, that meant that those girls weren't looking for me. In fact, even if they _had_ been looking for me, my bane of existence had completely vanished, since I was standing exactly 3 feet away from those girls, and nobody, _not one girl_, had fiercely charged at me yet. Which sucked. Completely and utterly sucked.

Was it Zac Efron? This was exactly why I had banned him from the set of Mackenzie Falls. _This_ is why I hated the male lead of the _stupid_ Disney Channel movie High School Musical. Even the title of the movie was so unoriginal. High School Musical? Might as well name it Bored Out of My Mind Musical.

"I thought you didn't like Zac Efron!" I said to Sonny, offended. She had told me that she hated High School Musical, and wanted nothing to do with Zac Efron, even if he was a foot away from her, asking her out on a date, offering flowers, and wearing a tuxedo, complete with a huge Oscar-worthy grin.

She spun around, her hands on her hips. "I don't."

"Then why are you trying to get an autograph?" I asked angrily, motioning to the pad of paper in her hand.

Her annoyed expression turned into an amused one. She pointed back towards the mob. "You think that's Zac Efron?"

"Who _else _would it be?"

She laughed, making me weak in the knees. Out of all the girls I had ever met, she was the only one that could do that. And I hated her for it. Except not really.

"It's Shane Gray."

I raised his eyebrow. The name seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite recall where I had heard of this 'Shane Gray.' "Who?"

She sighed impatiently. "Shane Gray. Singer, in a band called Connect 3?"

"Connect 3? I thought it was Connect 4," I replied, "What? Have they run out of games to make?"

"No, Chad." She said my name in exasperation. Does that mean she's tired of me? No! She can't be tired of me! _Nobody_ is tired of Chad Dylan Cooper! "Connect 3 is the name of their band."

"That's right." Shane Gray said, appearing at her side, wearing a smile that showed his (obviously fake) white teeth. "Hey! You're Sonny Munroe! I love _So Random!_"

Sonny shot me a smug smile and shook his outstretched hand. "And you're Shane Gray. I love your songs."

"Thanks!" He said, embracing her in a quick hug. Then he finally seemed to notice me. "Oh, you must be Chad Cooper."

"Chad _Dylan_ Cooper." I said through his clenched teeth. Shane and Sonny had just met and they were already hugging?

"Right, Chad Dylan Cooper." Shane seemed to not notice the tension in the air. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Working with me? What? Why?"

"Weren't you listening to Mr. Condor?" Sonny spoke up, rolling her eyes at me. "He said that Shane Gray was guest starring on _Mackenzie Falls_ for a couple of weeks."

"He is?"

"Yes, Chad. Really, what's up with you? Are you going deaf?"

I stared at the wall, trying to ignore the deathly glare from Shane that only _I_ was able to see. Clearly, he hadn't just come to boost his ego by guest starring on the number one teen drama show. He'd also come to snatch the one girl I cared about away from me.

"Thanks a lot." I muttered under my breath.

"Well, look at the time! We'd better get going!" Shane said cheerfully. Stupid Shane and his stupid cheerfulness. Did he not see I was under a stressful situation right now?

"Yeah, I really don't want to stand hear and listen to you talk to yourself." Sonny agreed.

"Well I'd rather not stand here and watch you two skip off into the sunset together." I said sarcastically. Stupid Sonny and her stupid cuteness. Even if she was a smart girl, she was still dumb enough to not notice that the too-tight pant-wearing Connect 3 member was making oogly faces at her.

"Fine!" She said.

Oh, no. She wasn't getting off that easy. She thinks that I was going to keep playing this silly game of "Her Making Me Jealous Even Though She Doesn't Even Realize It," but I wasn't. No way. Not in this lifetime.

"Bye." I mumbled, stomping back into my dressing room. 15 minutes of Shane Gray and I was already a total completely un-Chad Dylan Cooperish wreck.

I stomped all the way back and plopped down on the couch. I never really knew it before, but stomping calms me down. I guess I'll be doing a lot of stomping these days, because Mr. Stupidpants (Shane Gray) was here.

Looking at the schedule on my wall, I realized that I had an easy day today. A few hours of rehearsal, but that was pretty much it. I had a whole lot of time to myself, and I would enjoy that. Because then I could spend the whole day thinking of ways to sabotage Mr. Stupidpants and get him kicked off the show before he even guest starred.

That, my friends, is what I would call pretty amazing. But then again, I _am_ Chad Dylan Cooper, and I am pretty amazing. Except Sonny has to ruin it all the time. And this time, she wasn't the culprit. Mr. Stupidpants was. He just _had_ to come here and get all cutsie-pie with Sonny Munroe, which made me all jealous and totally not myself. Believe me, if it had been Tawni or Portlyn out there, I could've cared less.

But it just had to be Sonny.

My phone beeped.

_1 New Text Message. From: Portlyn._

**rehersal's starding in 5. where are you?**

I chuckled to myself. Trust Portlyn to spell "rehearsal" and "starting" wrong. I texted back quickly, telling her I would be right down. Taking one last look at myself to make sure I was presentable, I grabbed the script and headed down.

-

"There's our big star!" Our director, Xavier exclaimed. Everyone looked towards me and I grinned cockily, my jealous anger fading away.

I stepped in place.

And then.

There came.

The big fat Mr. Stupidpants himself.

Shane Gray.

"And there's our other big star!" Xavier clapped, motioning for everyone to join him.

I stood there stiffly, glaring at Shane as he smiled and waved, as if he was surprised that everyone loved him. I was the only one that could see through his fakeness. Only _I_ could see how bad he was acting. Looks like there wasn't going to be much competition between him and me.

"Other big star? He just got here!" I said.

"So? He's still totally _hot_." Portlyn said, fanning herself with her hand. Girls who did that were _so_ overrated.

"What is he even doing here? He's not in this episode!"

"He's just watching." She replied. "So he can get a feel of _Mackenzie Falls_ magic."

"On your places, people!" Xavier screamed. "Take 1, and ACTION!"

"Water!" I yelled, facing Portlyn.

"Bottles!"

"Water!"

"Bottles!"

"Wa--"

"Can I make a suggestion?" Another voice said from behind me.

"No, you can't make a suggestion!" I replied, then realized it wasn't Portlyn who said that. I turned around and saw Shane standing there.

"CUT!" Xavier said, waving his stick thing in the air.

After Shane oh-so-subtly hinted that I wasn't acting to my best ability, criticized everything I acted out, and complained about the over-acting of my character, Xavier finally told us to take a lunch break.

"You know, I don't know why," I said, running to catch up with Mr. Stupidpants, "but you don't seem to like me very much."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Shane asked innocently.

"Oh, don't act so innocent." I snarled, "You know you dislike me and my acting skills."

"But--"

"And that's not okay! _Nobody_ can dislike Chad Dylan Cooper and his acting skills! Because Chad Dylan Cooper is the _best_ actor of our generation!" I proclaimed, waving my fist in the air.

Shane blinked. Then he rolled his eyes. Which wasn't okay either! Because nobody (except maybe Sonny) can roll their eyes at me. "Are we done talking in third person?"

I didn't answer, only looked at him, trying to develop laser eyes so I could blast him with it. It didn't work.

"Is this about Sonny?" He asked.

"No, it's not about Sonny!" I lied, "This is about me, my acting skills, and your stupidity!"

"It's about Sonny." Shane declared. "Do you like her that much?"

"What? _What_ are you talking about? I don't like Sonny! Where'd you get that idea from?"

"Look, everyone knows you like Sonny." Shane whispered, glaring at me. "Since the minute I got here, everyone just bombarded me and told me that Chad Dylan Cooper likes Sonny Munroe!"

"But--"

"No buts. She doesn't seem to like you very much, does she?" He grinned evilly, "So why don't you just back off and let us get together? It'll be much easier that way."

I stared. _No one_ could talk to Chad Dylan Cooper that way. "I thought you cleaned up your jerk act at Camp Tock."

"It's Camp _Rock_."

"Whatever!" I said. Who cared what the camp's name was? All that mattered was that obviously Mr. Stupidpants here had _not_ cleaned up his act at Camp Tock-Rock.

"And I did clean up my jerk act! I just still act like a jerk _to_ jerks!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I replied, "Are you calling me a jerk?"

"Hey, Chip Drama Pants!" Gravy called. I lifted my hand in reply, then faced back towards Shane.

"You know, if you want Sonny," He began, "Then you're going to have to compete for her."

"_What_?"

"You heard me. I bet you that after a month, Sonny Munroe will be in love with Shane Gray." He said.

"Well I bet you that after a month, Sonny Munroe will _hate_ Shane Gray, and be in love with me, Chad Dylan Cooper!"

"Fine! It's a bet!" He spat in his hand and stuck it out. I did the same, and the bet was made.

"Wait!" I called after him.

"_What_?" He answered, exasperated.

"What's the prize?"

"Sonny!"

"Oh, right."

We glared at each other for several minutes before Portlyn led him away to our table. But no way was I going to eat there today. I had planning to do. Because this. Was. War.

_Meet Target: Shane Gray._

_Check._

_Mission: Destroy Mr. Stupidpants._

_Working on it._

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a/n: ahh, my first multichapter story! yay!

anyhoo, i'm kinda nervous to see your guys' responses. i hope this chapter was to your liking. it was kind of a filler, but I needed to get this plot thing down before I started the whole war thing. hahah.

post:

_Coke_- if you thought it was a great start.

_Sprite_- If you thought it could've been better, but liked it.

_Dr. Pepper_- If you thought it was horrible and I shouldn't continue.

and of course, long reviewers tell me what was good, bad, fave line, etc, etc.

review are appreciated (:

-hayley


	2. Form Alliance: The Randoms

a/n: oh wow. you guys are really, truly amazing. i never thought i'd get _so _many responses that quickly! so, to thank you all, i'm gonna give you all fresh baked cookies! or cake! or both! or if you don't like cake or cookies, then pretend it's your favorite food. and yes, i'm giving it all over the internet.

**thanks!:** TrinityFlower of Memories, Jensen Jonas, WatchMeShine13, HorriblyAddicted, stupid-cookie-cutter-popstar, ScribblesOfLove, Taylaa, making it to dawn, FlamingxxRoses, random78, sky12, Sunset Clouds, 0Sally0, Literati Lover, UnmistakablyAlice, channyloverforever, obsessedwithbooks, awesometastic9, Aurora, JesicaJinx, klcthenerd, sonnycentral, xXAFanatic09Xx, and xxHeadInTheStarsxx.

phew, i'm tired. that was a lotta copy + pasting, lol. onto the chapter!

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by _xScribbles819_

-2-

Form Alliance: The Randoms

-

_The first step to winning a war is forming an alliance._

_~Chad Dylan Cooper_

I knew Tawni was considered one of Sonny's closest friends. (Next to me of course.) And even though she denied that Sonny was one of her _own_ closest friends, we all knew she was. So I figured that if Tawni and I, the closest friends of Sonny, worked together, we would be able to defeat that _stupid_ Mr. Stupidpants with his _stupid_ attitude and _stupid _hair that was obviously not well taken care of, unlike my own perfect hair.

The first step to winning a war is forming an alliance. Even if it meant forming an alliance with a _Random_. I had considered asking that little girl (whose name I later learned to be Zora) to help me, since she was known for sneaky tricks and practical jokes, but she was nowhere to be seen, and I was a little afraid of her since she filled my convertible with elephant manure, glued me to the window and the floor, and embarassed me on national TV, _and_ in front of Sonny.

So I settled on Miss Blondie instead.

After another fiasco on the set of _Mackenzie Falls_, I decided to walk over to the Random's prop house to search for Tawni. And there they were, Tawni. And _Sonny. _Don't faint, Chad, don't faint.

"Heey." I said, flashing a smile.

"Why are you here, Chad?" Sonny asked. She crossed her arms and glared at me.

"Whoa, what's with you?" I asked, fidgeting with the bottom of my jacket, "Can't a guy come and say hi to his favorite Randoms?"

Without answering, Sonny made a face at me and walked quickly out the door. I watched her, an uneasy feeling coming over me. Had Shane said something? Keeping my confused emotions bottled up inside of me, I turned back to Tawni, hoping for a reasonable explanation.

"What's up with her is that _you_ said you would never go out with someone as idiotic and not good looking as her." She said, while applying lip gloss and blowing herself kisses in front of the mirror.

"What? I never said that--" Ignoring me, she tossed her hair and began to walk out, but I grabbed her arm before she could. If I wanted to form an alliance, I needed to do it now.

"Ew, don't touch me!" She yelped, swatting my hand away.

I rolled my eyes and shook out my semi-sore hand. "I need a favor."

She eyed me. "What _kind_ of a favor?"

"I made this bet with Shane."

"What does that have anything to do with--" I could practically see the wheels clicking in her brain as she finally realized what this was about. "Oh! You bet that you could make Sonny fall in love with you before Shane could!"

"Um, actually," I replied, "I bet she would fall for me at the end of the month."

"Same difference." She said, touching her hair to make sure it was okay.

"I need you to help me."

"What makes you think I'll help _you_?" She asked, "Maybe I'm already helping Shane."

"You are?" I yelled. If Shane had already stolen all of my future alliances, I was seriously going to suffocate him.

She laughed and shook her head. "No! I don't even like that Shane dude." She leaned in and whispered, "between you and me, I'd way rather be one of your guys' bridesmaids and see you and Sonny get married than be one of _their _bridesmaids and see Sonny and Shane get married."

I seriously hoped that the redness in my cheeks weren't noticable.

"Anyway, sure I'll help you!" She squealed, clapping her hands together. "Who doesn't love a little matchmaking!? Plus, I always knew you were into Sonny!"

"I'm not into Sonny!" I said, trying to keep my voice straight, "This is just for the bet."

She looked at me and shook her head. "Oh, so you're going to make her fall in love with you and then crush her like a bug?" She patted my head. "You bad, insensitive boy!"

"Fine!" I said, removing her hand from my hair. _Nobody _can touch Chad Dylan Cooper's hair, "I sort of like Sonny, alright?"

"Whoa!" A new voice exclaimed. Rico came gliding by on a scooter thing, his mouth wide open. "You sorta like Sonny?"

"No!" I quickly said.

"Oh, so you were lying to us." Gravy accused, licking his finger clean of the sauce from a meatball sandwich he was eating.

"No!"

"So you _weren't_ lying to us?" Rico asked.

"No!" I said, hiding behind a gnome to shield my tomato red skin. It's one thing for Tawni to see me turn bright red at the mention of Sonny's name, but it's a whole different story when Rico, Gravy, and the whole entire world see. They could've had a hidden camera in here for all I knew.

"Wait, I'm confused." Rico said, looking at Gravy.

"Me too, Nico, me too." Gravy said, patting his heart. Oh, so it was Nico.

"Tell Grady and me what's going on." Nico demanded. Nico and _Grady_? Oh well, at least I got the 'ico' and 'grady without the d' right.

"What's going on is," Tawni said, "Chad Dylan Cooper just admitted he was into Sonny! And he's at war with Shane Gray, so we _have_ to help him!"

"We're at war?" Zora cried, emerging from her sarcophagus. And suddenly, everyone was talking at the same time. Nico and Grady started discussing what kinds of weapons they wanted to use, Tawni was giving Tawni tips to them, and Zora was running around with her arms in the air screaming "WE'RE AT WAR! WE'RE AT WAR!"

I slapped my forehead. I closed my eyes, counted to three, and yelled, "Stop! Stop! Everyone, just stop!"

Surprisingly, they all stopped and turned towards me. I waited for a while, deciding what to say. I couldn't trust the whole cast of _So Random!_, could I? They all could easily spill the whole thing, the whole thing being my bet with Shane. They could also 'accidentally' tell everyone that I liked Sonny. But then again, they all knew Sonny so well, and could do so much to help me win.

I looked closely at each and every one of them. Zora would definitely come in handy. She could design a catapult or something so we could hit Shane with slices of meat everytime he wanted to talk to Sonny. Nico and Grady might also be helpful, they could probably dress up as random people and confuse Shane and then lock him in a closet. And of course, Tawni was already part of the whole alliance thing.

With the help of the Randoms, and maybe a few other people, we would definitely win.

I took a deep breath. "If I let you in on a little secret, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

Zora and Tawni nodded. Nico and Grady weren't too sure.

"How do we know you're not pranking us again?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, how?" Grady echoed.

"Just tell them!" Tawni said, stomping her foot. Huh, maybe stomping relieves anger for her too. "And you two, listen!"

They mumbled a few words incoherently, saying "sorry" a few times before looking down shamefully at their feet. Looks like Tawni held a certain power over them

"Look, I'm only going to say this once. Because Chad Dylan Cooper _doesn't_ repeat things."

"Just tell us!" Zora screeched. If there was anyone that had a crazy voice, it was that little dwarf. One minute it would be soothing and relaxing, and the next it would be like nails on a chalkboard. Ouch.

"Truth is, I--"

"He likes Sonny!" Tawni butted in, smiling like a crazy woman. "He made this bet with Shane Gray that in a month, Sonny would fall in love with him. But _Shane _thinks that Sonny will fall for him instead. So he needs our help to win this war!" She stuck out her hand, "Team Chad on 3,"

The rest of the Randoms placed their hands on top of hers. Without waiting for mine, they chanted, "One, two--"

"Hey!" I said, "You didn't even wait for my hand! And _I'm _the person you're cheering for! Plus, _you_" I pointed towards Tawni, "Stole my lines!"

"Oh, please, it isn't a script, you know." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Well?" Zora asked.

"Well what?" I replied, confused. What, did they want me to scream in delight and do cartwheels across their prop room or something?

"Get your hand in here!" She directed.

I stared up at the ceiling. "This is _so _3rd grade."

"One, Two, Three!" They chorused, throwing their hands up in the air, "Team Chad!"

"YEAH!" Grady shouted.

"Shane Gray is going _dowwwwn_!" Zora shouted.

I sat down on their couch and leaned back. Shane Gray was indeed going down.

-

"_You_ have been missing for so long!" Skyler DeVane, the guy who played my half brother on the show, shouted furiously. "So _I_ was going to take over our family!"

"He was." Ferguson (he plays Trevor, Mackenzie's best friend) nodded, acting scared.

"But then _you_ had to show up. _Again!_" Skyler continued.

"Thank goodness you're back!" Chastity (she plays Chloe on the show) squealed, hugging me

"Guys," I said on cue. _This_ was where I belonged. _This_ was where I made my magic! _This _was where--

"Chad!"

--Tawni interrupts such a heartfelt moment. Right in the middle of a scene.

"CUT!" Xavier yelled. He turned toward her, "Don't you know we're shooting here?!"

She apologized quickly, then scurried over to me and whispered, "I overheard Sonny and Shane talking. They're--"

"Oh yes." Xavier said, scratching his chin, "Where is that Shane? He's supposed to be in the next scene!" He snaps his fingers, assistants arriving at second's notice, "Go find that Shane Gray. We need him to get ready for the next scene." Then he faces us, "Take 5 everyone!"

"They're going out on a _date_." Tawni finished, stepping back.

"A _date_?" I asked loudly. I turned and saw everyone was staring at me, so I lowered my voice down. "How dare they go out on a date!_ I'm_ the one that's supposed to be going out on a date with Sonny!"

"Oh stop being so dramatic!" Tawni directed, "You knew it was going to happen sooner or later!"

I realized I was still into the dramatic environment of the show. "Oh, right. Sorry, it takes me a while to get out of my character. You know, this is a dramatic show. Mackenzie falls, number one--"

"Yeah, yeah." Tawni said dismissively. "We gotta get planning!"

"Planning? For what?"

She stared at me as if she was a teacher that just saw how bad my report card was, and was completely and severely disappointed in me. Reality struck me, and I figured it out. We _needed_ to sabotage that date!

"Oh, right." I answered nonchalantly, as if being stupid was something CDC did all the time. "You know, Chad Dylan Cooper--"

"Is stupid, yeah, I know." Tawni said, "We'll meet you at the prop house after you're done shooting."

"Okay." I agreed. Letting the Randoms in on the bet and forming an alliance with them was one of the best things I had ever thought of.

And just for your information, if you didn't already know, Chad Dylan Cooper _always _thinks of the best things.

_Form Alliance: The Randoms_

_Completed._

_Mission: Destroy Shane Gray_

_In-Progress._

* * *

a/n: so, i'm terribly sorry for making your eyes hurt with such long author notes. ): but this one'll be short. i promise. maybe. anyway, i promise i'll get to replying to your reviews after the second chapter. i was just being a lazy bum and didn't feel like typing so much. hardy har har.

well, you should know what to do.

_hungry hungry hippos_: you loved it

_guess who?_: you thought it could've been better

_monopoly_: you hated it.

ps; please tell me why. (:

-h


	3. First Attempts

a/n: new penname! woot! lol

so i know that Sonny wasn't exactly in the first two chapters, but that was just because you know, i had to get the whole plot & build up down. so here's Sonny. in a third or so of the chapter, but you'll see why. i promise there'll be more of her later, after all, the whole story _is_ centered around her. ;)

thanks!: alliebearlove, HorriblyAddicted, Literati Lover, TrinityFlower of Memories, kenzosaurus, sonnycentral, RandomTaylor13, Jensen Jonas, xxHeadInTheStarsxx, Kevin the Burrito, JesicaJinx, xXAFanatic09Xx, making it to dawn, lilo, 0Sally0, Sunset Clouds, klcthenerd, and Yummy Yummy Bubblegum for reviewing

**Disclaimer: **oops I think I forgot the disclaimer last chapter. oh well, i don't own anything... that i don't own.

this chapter is dedicated to _making it to dawn_, since i promised her i would dedicate a chapter to her ;)

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ Mindless Scribbles_

_-_

-3-

First Attempts: Sharona's Blog & Destructive Date

_-_

_Unlease your imagination._

_~Fanfiction (dot) net_

Sitting in a circle with the Randoms around a whiteboard in the _So Random! _prop house wasn't exactly how I pictured spending my Saturday afternoon. But I had my priorities, of course, one of them being that I _had _to win this bet. At first I refused to do this, but after Tawni said that this was the only way to win Sonny over, I agreed.

_Very_ quickly.

"So, what we need to do, is have a certain something on our side." Tawni declared, pointing a stick at the whiteboard.

"Which would be?" Nico asked, yawning. We had been at this for hours. So far, we've filled the whiteboard with notes about Shane's weaknesses, facts that the Randoms claimed to be useful (no matter how useless they seemed), ideas on how to make seem like a horrifying monster to the public (which, in my opinion, was probably the best idea they've had in this lifetime), and even more ideas on how to win this bet.

"The press!" Tawni declared.

"Ohh!" Grady whined. He turned around and promptly fell face down onto a pillow. Seconds later, snoring erupted.

Rolling her eyes, Tawni furiously stabbed at the board again. "We need to use the press to our advantage before Shane does so that we can get everyone to think he is a no-good rotten fruit kabob!"

We stared at her. This "at war" thing was really getting to her head. All day yesterday she sat here, thinking of ways we could sabotage Shane and Sonny's date while eating french toast. Truth be told, french toast was pretty good, but taking three plates of it to herself was pretty insane. Especially since she attacked us (us being Nico, Grady and me) and made us do her patented "Bite, Wipe and Gloss" all day long. Not only did I feel bad for myself, I felt bad for Nico and Grady.

Me starting to sympathize for some of the Randoms meant I was turning crazy. I needed to get my act together again!

Nico hesitated, then raised his hand.

"Yes, Nico!"

"Why _fruit kabob_?"

"Yeah!" Grady suddenly woke up, making us all jump. "Why not _meat kabob_?"

"Guys," Tawni exclaimed, obviously annoyed that they would ask such a stupid question, "We're at _war_ here! It doesn't matter whether we turn Shane into a fruit or meat kabob. It only matters that we turn him into some kind of a _kabob_!" Her voice rose and echoed in the room.

Zora jumped up and slapped her face. "Snap out of it woman!"

Tawni took a deep breath. "Thanks. I needed that." She turned back to the whiteboard. "Now, what we need to do is somehow attract Sharona's attention."

"Ooh, ooh!" Grady volunteered, raising his hand and shaking it in the air, "I have an idea!"

"What, Grady?" Tawni said impatiently.

"Nico and me could--"

"Nico and _I_." Zora corrected.

"No, Nico and _me_!" Grady said.

"No, I meant-- oh never mind." Zora said, irritated by her castmate's confusion, "You're hopeless!"

"Just let the man continue." Nico said, patting Grady's back encouragingly.

"Chad, Nico, and me could--"

"Chad, Nico, and _I_!" Zora wailed, slapping her forehead.

Grady finally seemed to get that Zora was correcting his grammar. I never thought I'd see the day when I found someone that was dumber than Portlyn.

"Okay, okay!" Grady surrendered, throwing his arms up in the air as if she were a cop, "As I was saying, we could put on some skirts and hula dance in front of Sharona's building, get her attention and--"

"I am _not _wearing a skirt!" I interrupted, "Especially in public!"

"Oh, forget it." Grady said, pouting.

I rolled my eyes and decided to take charge. When I agreed that the Randoms could direct the first meeting, I didn't know it would turn into this kind of a disaster. We had gotten nowhere, except for the whiteboard thing.

I stood up. "I'm taking over."

"What?" Tawni cried, "You can't! _I'm_ in charge!"

I snatched the stick away from her and began cleaning the board with the eraser. Nico and Grady reached for the board, as if that would keep me from erasing it.

"Nooo!" Nico howled. And trust me, it sounded pretty similar to a werewolf's howl to me.

"We worked so hard on it!" Grady added.

I sighed. "If I let you two wear skirts and hula dance in front of Sharona's building, will you stop complaining?"

They immediately brightened. "Yeah!"

I turned toward Tawni, "And if I let you come in with me to Sharona's office so that we can tell her bad stuff about Shane, will you stop pouting like a fish?

She grinned and clapped, "Yeah!"

"Now, wait." Zora interjected, pacing around the room with her hands behind her back. I only thought old grandpas did that, but I guess I was wrong about that one too. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You," I said, pointing at her face. She stepped back from the stick, "Can help me plan a way to sabotage Sonny and Shane's date."

"Yes!" Zora yelled excitedly, "I get to sabotage someone's date! I've always wanted to do that!"

I shook my head and chuckled. "Okay, Zora, you stay here and think of ways to destroy Shane." She ran into her sarcophagus, grabbing a pen and paper inside.

"Wait, how can you write without light?" Grady called after her.

"Chad gave me a sarcophagus night-light, remember?

_I _definitely remembered. After I had tried to take over the _So Random!_ prop house, Sonny made me realize how much it meant to them, (and how much I liked her) so I bought each of them a little present. And seeing Sonny smile and say "Awh, that's so sweet" to me just made my day.

"Grady, Nico, go put on your hula skirts."

"Uhh," Grady shrunk, "We don't exactly _have _hula skirts."

I glared at them. "Then go buy some!"

"Right!" They jogged away fearfully, like they thought I would shoot laser beams with my eyes at them if they didn't. It was too bad I still hadn't developed those things yet. They would definitely be useful for the future.

"Tawni,"

"I come with you." She said, reaching for her purse, "Of course!" She moved toward the door, "Ooh, I'm so excited! I can't _wait _to go and say bad things about other people!"

Following her, I stuck my hands inside my pockets and gazed down at the floor. I had to be careful; if Sonny found out about all this-- me and her castmates plotting against Shane, or our bet, I would be doomed.

And would never have a chance with her again.

-

Sharona's office was brightly colored, and everything looked organized. But when she laughed, it made me cringe.

"Monkey!" She ordered, "Get me a latte!"

'Monkey' sighed and scurried out.

Tawni and I leisurely walked in. On our way there, we had practiced and coordinated everything; how to walk in, what to say once she payed attention to us, and how to walk out. Walking in casually was one of our plans to make it seem like we owned the place. It was easy enough for me, since I already walked in and out of everything like I possessed everything.

"Come, come, sit, sit." Sharona bellowed.

We stepped in and made our way to a purple couch.

"Not there." Sharona said.

Confused, we went over to another couch.

"Not there." She remarked.

"We'll just stand." Tawni declared.

"That's fine." Sharona nodded, then looked over at us, "Ooh, Déjà vu."

"Right..." I said, uncertainly, wondering if I should start talking about Shane now.

"Oh," Sharona grinned at us, "Chad Dylan Cooper and Tawni Hart! Hollywood's newest couple, I presume?" She held her purple pencils and began typing rapidly against the keyboard.

"No!" Tawni shrieked, making a barf noise, "I would never date Chad Dylan Pooper!"

"Well gee, thanks." I muttered sarcastically. "Makes me feel _great_."

"Oh, I see." Sharona said, pausing, "So Tawni, you've taken the place of Sonny Munroe?"

"Huh?"

"Sonny Munroe." She repeated, "Chad, you used to always fight and flirt with Sonny. So now you've taken an interest in Tawni Hart?"

"What?" I yelled, then lowered my voice to regular volume, "No way!"

"Then why are you here?"

Monkey came running in, carrying a cup of liquid, "Here's your latte."

Sharona peered down at the cup, "Where's the whipped cream, Monkey?"

"It's Mon-_keh_!" Monkey muttered, running off again to get the whipped cream.

"I repeat," Sharona said loudly, "Why are you here? If you're going to waste my time, I'd rather you leave now. I have to get a new post posted." She gazed at the ceiling, "High School Musical's Zac Efron really 40 years old!" She waved her hands dramatically. "That sounds great, doesn't it?"

I grinned, "That does."

"Well?" Sharona said, ignoring my answer, "What are you doing here? I've asked you three times already, and you _still_ haven't answered. Are you two deaf or something?"

"We," Tawni said quickly, "Have news."

She stared. "About?"

"Shane Gray." I answered.

"Ooh," Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Except they weren't as sparkly or pretty as Sonny's. "Rumor is he's guest starring on _Mackenzie Falls. _Is it true?"

"Yes, but--"

"Yes!" She said, typing again, "First blog to know the truth!"

"What we're _trying _to say," Tawni said, rather ferociously, "Is that we have some _interesting_," She winked at me, "News about him."

"Like?"

"Like he picks his nose!" I blurted out, panicking at the last second. Tawni looked me like I had three heads.

But Sharona looked interested. "Really? And how do you know this?"

"I saw him! Erm, yeah, I saw him yesterday on the set, picking his nose. And then he just stuck the boogers into his mouth, yeah." I babbled, not really sure what came over me. Picking noses weren't exactly what we all had in mind.

"Hm," Sharona said thoughtfully, "Monkey!" She screeched.

"Yes?" Monkey asked, shaking the whipped cream can, "Here's your whipped cream!"

"Never mind about that! Get the photo editor in here!"

"Why do you need an editor?" Tawni asked.

"So we can get her to edit a photo of Shane Gray to make it look like he's picking his nose!"

I smiled. This was going great.

"I have to say." Sharona looked at us, "You came with great news."

"Than--"

"So, I'm going to let you off the hook."

"For what?" Tawni replied.

"For denying the fact that you two are dating!" She answered.

"Oh no," I said firmly, Tawni was definitely not the one I wanted to be dating, "We are _not _dating."

"Well, this is the only opportunity I'm giving you." Sharona said, "Next time you barge into my office and have those two _clowns_, "She pointed out the window at hula dancing Nico and Grady, "Dancing outside my building, I. Will. _Destroy_. You." She got off her chair and inched closer to us.

"Uh huh." Tawni said timidly. I gulped.

"Ta-ta!" Sharona said, flying back to her computer. She murmured to herself as she began typing again.

As we left the office, Tawni whispered, "Picking his nose?"

"I panicked!" I whispered back.

"Oh well." Tawni said happily, skipping down the steps, "At least we got some bad things leaked onto the press. Even if they weren't exactly true."

I followed her with a grin pasted on my face.

-

I have to say I've never met an evil prank plotter as great as Zora.

Following her plan, we were currently at the diner. I was dressed up as a waiter, ready to take over some other waiter's shift, and spy on their date. The Randoms would go on a group dinner thing, with Zora's meat catapult, so they could occasionally lunge flying meat at Shane. It was going to go perfectly.

"You look amazing tonight." Shane said sweetly, making Sonny laugh.

"Awh, thanks." She looked down shyly, making me cringe and mutter "Stupid cute."

"What?" Zora asked.

"Nothing, nothing." I said, "Everything in place?"

"Oh yeah." She nodded.

"Never thought I'd see the day where Chip Drama Pants becomes a waiter!" Grady added. "Remember to get our orders after theirs."

I waved them off. "Yeah, yeah."

"Good luck!" Tawni said.

Sonny stared as her castmates sat down at a table next to theirs.

"_Tawni_?" She asked, "_Grady? Nico? Zora?_"

"That's us!" Nico said proudly, pointing to himself.

The rest of the cast muttered, "Yeps" and "That's me."

"What are you guys doing here?" Sonny asked, occasionally smiling at Shane so he wouldn't think she forgot about him.

"We're at our _So Random! _group dinner!" Tawni said. "But of course, you couldn't come."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sonny apologized, immediately feeling bad, "I didn't know it was _So Randoms!_'s group dinner!"

"It's fine." Zora said, "Have fun on your date."

Sonny smiled, "You guys are the best." She turned back to Shane, who, of course, was making those oogly faces again.

Tawni looked at me, then nodded. It was go time.

I walked out wearing the uniform I had gotten earlier (out of many autographs and begging for it from the owner), and an orange wig. I had to admit, even if I wasn't looking like myself, I still looked _good_.

"Ello, mate." I nodded at the waiter by the counter. "The owner said you could take off."

"What?" He looked confused, "But he said that I had to stay late tonight."

"Just go." I said, smiling to myself while talking in that accent again. "Trust me, Chad-- Smith doesn't lie."

"How come I've never seen you around before?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just go!"

"Fine, geez." He muttered, taking off.

I grabbed a pen and a pad. I had to be a waiter in episode 125, season 2 of _Mackenzie Falls_. If real life was anything like my TV , this would be a piece of cake.

I headed over to Sonny's table. "Hi, welcome to the--" I glanced at their menus quickly for the restaurant's name, "Epic Diner. What can I get for you?"

They ordered quickly, my gaze never leaving Sonny's eyes. As I walked toward the Randoms' table, I heard Shane whisper, "He totally just checked you out!"

"Awh, are you jealous?" Sonny asked.

"No!" Shane muttered bitterly, staring at the table. I laughed evilly to myself.

"Hi, welcome to the Epic Restaurant, how may I help you?" I recited, looking at the pad of paper.

"It's Epic _Diner_." Grady said.

"Whatever!" I snapped.

"Nice accent." Nico snickered.

"I'll have the chicken nuggets," Zora spoke up, looking off the kids' menu, "With a side of fries!"

"How's everything going?" Nico asked.

"Perfect." I nodded, collecting their menus. Returning back to the counter, I gave the sheet of paper to the chef. He squinted at it.

"What is this?" He asked, "I can't read it! You need some handwriting lessons or something, man."

I gave him a look, then glanced back over at Sonny's table, just in time to see a piece of meat land on Shane's head. I let out a laugh.

Carrying their meals to the table, Shane stared at me as if he recognized my face. "Chad?"

"_Chad_?" Sonny asked, looking around trying to find me. "Where's Chad?" If anything, she actually sounded excited. I kept my grin hidden, focusing on making my accent sound believable.

"Er, yes. My name is Chad Smith. How did you know that?"

"Never mind." Shane said, looking down at his plate, "I must be losing it."

Sonny let out a nervous laugh and looked down, her disappointment obvious. What she was disappointed about, I could only hope it was that she didn't see me. Directly, of course.

Another piece of meat landed on Shane's head. He scowled at the Randoms' table as they howled with laughter.

"Guys!" Sonny whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?" Nico asked, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Stop throwing meat at my date! Zora, put your meat catapult away."

"Fine." Zora said, "But only after one more piece of meat." She loaded a large hunk of cheese and threw it at Shane. It crumbled in the process, making Mr. Stupidpants the cheesiest man of the world.

I couldn't hide my big grin. So far, so great.

_First Attempts: Sharona's Blog & Destructive Date_

_Success!_

_Mission: Destroy Shane Gray_

_Going along smoothly._

* * *

a/n: eekers! this was much longer than the other two chapters. but hey, everyone loves a long chapter! well, i hope. i also hope you will review and tell me your thoughts (wink wink nudge nudge) ;) by the way, the part where they were talking about the sarcophagus night light and stuff was from "Tales From the Prop House." it airs on Disney on sunday! yay! of course, i couldn't help myself and already watched it on youtube. lol.

_banana; if you loved it_

_tissues; if you thought it was okay_

_vegetables; if you hated it_

-hayley


	4. Catching Up: Spectacular Saturday

a/n: so. i hope you like this. hehe. i. am. writing. very. short. sentences. hardy. har. har. :P

**thank you**: Literati Lover, stupid-cookie-cutter-popstar, xXAFanatic09Xx, 0Sally0, sonnycentral, jensen jonas, vii, Kevin the burrito, JesicaJinx, HorriblyAddicted, hannahpie45, making it to dawn, klcthenerd, xxHeadInTheStarsxx, xoOhhMyyEdward, wildfire1001, Sunset Clouds, TrinityFlower of Memories, have-a-cookie, alliebearlove, awesometastic9, and Yummy Yummy Bubblegum **for reviewing**!

ps: i'll get to replying after this chapter. maybe i'll just reply ever other chapter. i'm terribly lazy, lol.

disclaimer: i don't own anything except the plot.

and this chapter is dedicated to _alliebearlove_, because it's her wonderful 16th birthday on 8/9. happy birthday (:

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ mindless scribbles_

-4-

Catching Up: Spectacular Saturday

-

_I'm hoping, I'm waiting, I'm praying you are the one._

_~Demi Lovato; Falling Over Me_

The rest of the night went by pretty slowly. Nothing really happened after Sonny forced Zora to apologize to Shane for slapping meat and cheese on his head and then made her put the catapult away. And working for the Epic Diner when you really didn't work there was kind of painful. Chad Dylan Cooper's patience isn't exactly the highest, you know. Plus, the chef kept insulting my handwriting skills. Really, who cared if your handwriting was 'illegible?' In Hollywood, you didn't need to write. All you needed was a signature that people would keep forever, taped on their walls so they could stare lovingly at a piece of _paper _all day long.

After a while, my patience snapped and I was about to go throw a tantrum or something, so I just decided to leave.

It was too bad I did, because by now, it was the next Friday and I had been wondering all week what happened after I left. After smirking at the computer while reading Sharona's newest post about Shane Gray picking his nose (the edited picture actually looked _real_) and thinking about Sonny for countless hours, I finally decided to just head over to the _So Random!_ studio and ask.

I wandered over and made it look like I was just breezing by. Entering the prop house, I spotted Sonny sitting next to a table, twirling her hair, looking thoughtful. Ugh. Stupid cute. Made me sick. In a good way. Was that even possible?

"Where're the other Randoms?" I asked, plopping down next to her.

She looked up and her eyes brightened. As if she was happy to see _me_. "They went to pick out a movie."

"For?"

"Movie night."

"What's movie night?" I asked dumbly, focusing on her big brown eyes.

"A night of movies," She replied, chuckling at my stupidity, "Duh."

I blushed slightly. "Oh. Right. _Duh._" I added, mocking her.

She laughed and we stared each other for a few minutes. Snapping out of it, I realized what I had came for. "So how'd your date with Mr. Shane Gray go?"

"Oh, it was..." She cringed a little, searching for the right word. I was satisfied, if the date had been awesome, she would've come up with something already. "Okay."

I raised my eyebrows. "Just okay?"

Sonny sighed, her hand twirling that lock of hair again. "Yeah. Zora made this meat catapult thing and dumped meat and chese on Shane's head,"

I interrupted her and snidely commented, "Yum, yum."

She gave me a look and kept going. "And then after the _weird_ waiter left, Shane kept complaining about how he was flirting with me, even though the only thing he asked me was what I wanted to order."

I tried to keep it in, but failed. So I laughed. For about a half hour, while Sonny looked at me with this smile on her face, like she was looking at an insane child who just did the darndest things. Which, if you thought about it, sorta made sense. With the bet and everything.

"Stop laughing." She ordered after I started to tear at the eyes.

"But it's so funny!"

"No it's not!"

I gulped, swallowing up anothe rlaugh, "Yes it is! It's hysterical. And you know it." I pointed at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, yeah, it sort of is. _Fine_."

"Fine." And this part of the argument, my friends, is exactly why I _loved_ bickering with Sonny Munroe.

"Good!"

"Good." And suddenly, it happened. We slowly started inching toward each other. Our faces were barely a centimeter apart, and just when we about to kiss--

"Yo, yo!" Nico shouted, hopping in the room, "What's up guys!?"

We flew apart. I groaned on the inside.

"Oh, guys!" Tawni said, "Did we_ interrupt_ something?" I fumed. She _knew_ we were about to kiss. So why didn't she stop those crazy chuckleheads from exploding and jumping in here?

"No, no." Sonny quickly said, "Of course not." I swallowed hard. Did that meant it was a mistake? Could it be that she really didn't want to kiss me? I glanced at her to see if I could spot any signs of disgust, but all I saw a bright red face.

"Oh..." Nico said, looking back and forth between us, "Sorry about that."

"Good news, guys!" Grady roared, "We picked out a _great_ movie!" He held up a DVD.

Sonny stood up and grabbed it. "Psycho?"

Tawni stole it back, reading from the back in one of those deep announcer voices, "In a Phoenix hotel room on a Friday afternoon, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her out-of-town lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) end a stolen lunchtime interlude with yet another disagreement about their future. Marion wants to marry Sam, but debts inherited from his father and his own alimony payments do not leave him enough--," She took a deep breath, "Man, there's a lot of words. I'm too pretty to finish it!"

"What matters is," Zora said, "It's a great 1960 movie!"

I stood up quietly. This wasn't exactly my place anymore. Movie night wasn't a thing we did over at the Falls. Even though it was probably really lame and stupid, it still sounded pretty cool. I walked over to the door as the Randoms did their thing, arguing over whether to watch it, or exchange it for a different movie."

"Wait!" Someone called after me. Sonny blushed at her sudden outburst, but recovered quickly, "Um, why don't you come watch it with us?" She offered.

"_Me_?" I asked, considering the offer. "Watch a movie with _you_ Chuckleheads?"

"Yeah, why not?" She asked. Her cast was giving her weird looks. She continued meekly, "Or you could come watch it with us and bring your cast too?"

"What?" Tawni wailed, "But I can't stand that Portlyn! Her un-moisturized skin just _disgusts_ me!" She shuddered at the thought.

"What do you say, Chip Drama Pants?" Grady asked. "I think it's time to end this feud between our shows."

The offer was extremely tempting, but I couldn't. It was too un-Chad Dylan Cooperish to accept a Random's peace offering, let alone watch a whole two hour or so horror movie with them.

"I like you guys," I said, directing it more toward Sonny than anyone else. Too bad she didn't notice, "I really do. But it's not up to me to end this feud. It's up the the _Falls_. And anyway, we'll be busy shooting while you guys are watching the movie, so we really can't anyway."

Sonny's face drooped (not literally) in disappointment, but she quickly covered it with a smirk. "Suit yourself."

"Yeah, suit yourself!" Grady yelled, then cracked up. "Suit yourself. Get it? _Suit_ yourself! As in, suit! Like, dressing!!"

Tawni shook her head. "Well then, we'll see you tomorrow Chad."

"Why not at lunch?" I asked. It was only 11 o'clock.

"Hello?" Zora said, motioning to the TV, "Movie? We order pizza so we can do lunch while watching the movie."

"It's kinda like," Grady burst out laughing again, "_Double duty!_"

"I thought it was movie _night._" I replied.

"Night, day," Nico said, waving his hand, "Same difference."

I had no idea what happened inside of me, but all of a sudden I wanted to ask Sonny out. Now. Not only did we almost kiss, but I alsohad catching up to do. I know it sounded pretty cruel and all, but I _had _to win this bet. Chad Dylan Cooper _always_ wins his bets. So I took a step closer to Sonny and motioned for her to follow me out of the room. Sure, I had experience asking girls out, but no way was I going to ask _Sonny_ out in front of those Randoms.

I stopped abruptly at the end of the hallway, and she almost crashed into me.

"Gee, Chad. _Trying_ to make me fall?" She said sarcastically.

"No, I just--" I searched for the right words, "I wanted to ask you something."

"I already _told _you, I don't like Zac Efron!"

I groaned inwardly. She just didn't seem to be getting it, did she? "No, not that. I just-- remember when I said that we should hang out?"

She squinted at me, "Before you stepped in that dog poop?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, yeah, of course I do." She remembered! YES!

"Well, I was wondering, maybe you'd like to you know," I gestured wildly and pointlessly in front of me with my hands.

She smiled, "Is Chad Dylan Cooper trying to ask me to hang out with him?"

No, Sonny. I was trying to ask you to go out on a date with me. "Sure, you could call it that."

"Well, sure." She paused, "As long as you're not pulling another prank on me." She took my smirk as a no, then headed for the prop house again.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow!" I called after her. She waved, and I grinned. Shane Gray wasn't going to be the the only one going on a date with Sonny Munroe.

-

I woke up. And turned over. And then rolled over again. Then, after tossing and turning for about an hour, I glanced at the clock. 10:50. It was late enough, wasn't it? Sonny probably got up early everyday and I don't know, did "Sonshiney"-- no pun intended-- things, right? Plus, after I got ready and everything, it would probably be 11, and then she would_ definitely_ be up.

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, dressed and of course, made sure my hair looked amazing. Which it did. I originally planned to take her to the movies-- after all, that's what most people would consider 'hanging out', but I figured after that Psycho movie, she would be tired of watching films.

I remembered how Sonny had mentioned that she loved outdoorsy stuff. So I looked up 'outdoorsy' places on the internet and found something I was sure she would be interested in. Canoing. After looking at the clock again (by now, it was 11:30), I grabbed my keys and drove over to Sonny's place. Don't ask me how I knew where she lived. I just did. (Or maybe it was because I had secretly searched though Mr. Condor's files and 'accidentally' found out what her address was.)

I knocked on their apartment door, and Sonny's mom opened it, curiously staring at me.

"Hi." She said uncertainly.

"I'm here to pick up Sonny." I announced, then realized I should have introduced myself. "Oh, I'm--"

"Chad Dylan Cooper, I know. I'm Connie." She opened the door a little wider, letting me in. "I've heard about you an awful lot."

I smirked. Oh has she? I followed her as she led me to a closed room.

"Here's Sonny's room. She's still sleeping, but you know, once she finds out that you're here, she'll probably jump up at the sound of your name." She chuckled, then stopped, sternly looking at me, "You won't _do_ anything to her, will you?" Oh, god. Not _that_.

"No, ma'am." I said, my voice cracking at the word "ma'am." I had always gotten nervous whenever somebody mentioned _doing_ a certain thing.

She smiled, reassured, "Okay then. In you go. Oh, and call me Connie."

I stepped inside and heard soft snores coming from the bed. I walked over and snickered slightly at sight of her-- messy hair, pulling her comfortable up to her chin while clutching her cell phone. After staring at the sight of her insanely cute face for a moment, I realized I _really_ wanted to wake her up with a kiss.

But no. I couldn't. That would be inappropriate, since we weren't even together.

_Yet_.

So I poked her cheek instead, and her eyes flew open. "Chad!?"

"The one and only."

"What are you doing here?"

"I said I'd pick you up." I replied nonchalantly, "And here I am, picking you up."

"At," Her head turned toward her clock. "11 in the morning?"

I shrugged, "Why not?"

"Chad, you could've at least called me."

"But what fun would that be? Besides, I thought you loved surprises."

She rolled her eyes. "Not _this_ kind of a surprise."

"Why not?" I fake frowned, trying to make her feel bad.

She got up and began rummaging around in her drawers, "Chad, I've got recording to do."

"What recording?"

"A music company's offering me a record deal and I took it."

I stared at her. "So?"

"_So_," She sighed, "I'm not just going to cancel it, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

I grimaced. Stupid record deal. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"To hear you sing! And then we can go hang out, like we planned." I stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which, it was.

"Fine," She gave up and headed for the bathroom, clothes in hand. "Go wait in the kitchen or something!" She shouted.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

I grinned. "Good!"

"Chad, just go."

"Fine!"

"Don't start that again." She groaned. I left the room and waited stiffly by the couch. Her mom had left, and I didn't really know what to do. Thinking about it for a while, I decided to sit down. After all, once we were dating, I would be over a lot and would have to sit, not stand like an idiot by a piece of furniture that was meant for sitting, right?

Sonny emerged from the bathroom, her hair wet, dressed, and smelling like... something sweet. Strawberries? Cherries? Either way, I kinda wanted to go over there and sniff her forever. But that would be kind of creepy.

"Okay," She said, as she slung a bag over her head, "Let's go."

We argued about whether or not she should ride in my car, and I finally won. _Sucker_. I opened the car door in an attempt to be a real gentlemen and she scoffed, "Trying to be nice, Chad?"

"I am nice!" I defended myself, "I have to wait for like 5 hours for you to finish wahtever you're singing for us to hang out!"

"Well, that is true." She smiled. She rolled down the window and the breeze flew past us, messing with my perfectly styled hair. I decided to let it go. Because it was just this once. And maybe also because it was Sonny that sitting beside me in the car. She directed me while I drove, and we finally arrived at this place with giant lighting.

We headed in, and everybody gasped, hugged, shook hands, smiled, talked, and whatever. I waited outside of the recording booth and waited.

And waited.

She started singing.

My jaw dropped.

Because let me tell you, I have _never_ heard a girl with that kind of voice before.

-

Two hours of listening to Sonny Munroe record some songs was probably the most I've ever enjoyed listening to music. But the day wasn't over yet, because it was 1 o'clock, and time for canoing.

We grabbed some lunch on the way, so we wouldn't starve to death or anything, and when we arrived at the canoing place, she gasped.

"Canoing?"

"Yes, canoing. What, are you bad at it?" I teased.

Her face was stricken with fear. Uh-oh. "What?" I asked, "Are you okay?"

"Uh, maybe this isn't such a good idea." She began, "See, I've never been canoing before."

I stared at her, then burst out laughing. No wonder she was on a comedy show. She was hilarious!

"What!?" She demanded. "What's so funny?"

"That was a good one, Munroe." I said, "You? Never been canoing? HA!"

"But I really haven't!" She answered meekly.

We stared at each other for a minute. Finally, I opened my mouth. "But I thought you had. There's lakes everywhere in Wisconsin!"

"Are there, Chad?" She replied, "Are there really?" I looked at her and sighed, "Alright, fine, there are. But the last time we all went canoing though, my uncle's boat tipped over and he nearly drowned! I've been afraid ever since." She looked down, embarrassed.

I touched her arm lightly, "Don't worry. I, for one, think it's cute."

She gaped, "That my uncle almost drowned!?"

"No! That you're afraid of canoing. Come on, I made sure no paparazzi was going to be here, so we might as well try it anyway. If it makes you feel better, I'm not that great at canoing either."

"Awh," She said, "Is Chad Dylan Cooper trying to make me feel better?"

"Maybe." I scowled, and walked to the booth where they gave out life jackets. "Two." I barked at the lady behind the counter.

She made a face at me, then grabbed two and threw them at me.

"Hey! No one throws life jackets at Chad Dylan Cooper!" I yelled.

"He's not very good with words." Sonny shouted, "He meant thank you!" The lady behind the counter gave her the thumbs up, then made another scary face at me.

Another man tugged a canoe out for us and handed us two paddles.

"Ready?" I asked.

"No." Sonny said fearfully.

"Come on," I said, pulling her with me. "You have a life jacket, you're not going to drown."

"But what if I _do_ fall over and the life jacket snaps and I _do _drown?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Would Chad Dylan Cooper let Sonny Munroe _drown_?"

She sighed and stepped into the boat with. After rowing pointlessly for a few minutes, she spoke up again, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For making me face my fear of _canoing_."

"Oh." I smiled to myself, "You're welcome."

We chatted for another half hour or so, talking about our shows, our castmates, and other random things we could think of. I was really starting to enjoy this thing.

"You know, I don't think we're doing this right." Sonny said.

"How do you know we're not doing it _wrong_?" I challenged.

"That doesn't even make sense." She pointed out.

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't."

"Just admit it, it does."

"But it doesn't!" She said.

I laughed. "Alright fine, that didn't really make sense."

"Good." Sonny replied, splashing me with her paddle.

"Hey!" I yelled, splashing her back. "No _one_ splashes Chad Dylan Cooper."

"Too bad," Sonny mocked me, "Sonny Munroe just did!"

We kept splashing each other until we were both soaking wet, laughing and having fun. The sparkle in her brown eyes made me smile even more, because really. Who wouldn't smile when the girl they loved had sparkly eyes and was laughing with you?

Wait.

_Loved!? _

Did I love Sonny?

It was way too early to be decided, wasn't it? And besides, I didn't even know if Sonny liked me back yet.

Deciding to let it drop, we rowed back to the shoreline and took off our life jackets. I threw it back at the lady, who scowled at me again, while Sonny ran and apologized to her for my 'atrocious behavior.'

She jogged back to me and we walked toward the parking lot. The ride back to her apartment was quiet, but a comfortable kind of quiet. When we reached where she lived, she turned and smiled at me.

"I had fun."

"Well, good." I replied.

"It was really sweet of you to do this for me."

I made a 'psh' sound. "Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't do sweet."

"Well, Sonny Munroe just proved Chad wrong." She teased. Another moment of silence, then she kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"Bye, Chad!"

I waited until she was gone, the let out a "YES!" Sure, it was just a cheek kiss, but it was still a kiss. I bet Sonny hadn't kissed Shane yet. So hahah to you, Mr. Stupidpants.

I touched my cheek. That kiss made me feel all tingly. Was that normal? I shrugged and drove away, deciding that this was definitely the _best_ Saturday ever.

_Catching Up: Spectacular Saturday_

_Complete._

_Mission: Destroy Shane Gray_

_Will _Definitely _Win._

_

* * *

_

a/n: so who tweets/twitterers here? idk the real term for it, but yeah. is it fun? i've heard that it's realllly addicting. maybe i should get one, lol.

so anyway, another super-sized chapter! yay! i hope you enjoyed it. it definitely wasn't one of my best, but it had channy fluff in it :) who wants to kill me for stopping their almost kiss? hahahahah!!! don't wory, they will kiss. eventually. maybe. you'll just have to see. so yeah, stay tuned for the next chapter!

_Umbrella:_ you loved it

_T-Rex:_ you thought it was okay

_trophies:_ you hated it

by the way, lol, the codewords definitely don't rank in the order of how i like 'em. for example, i love trophies! who doesn't? (: review?

-hayley


	5. When It All Starts To Crumble

a/n: so... wow. thank you so so much for all the nice reviews! my cheeks hurt after i read them all, haha. it's really late so i can't type out all of the reviewers. but i want you all to know that i thank you very very much (:

as for the quote, there was one like that that i heard before, and i thought it really fit into this chapter (you'll see why), except i really couldn't recall what the whole quote was. so i hope you get what it means, and if you know the actual quote, i'll happily change it and of course, give you credit for helping me :)

**Disclaimer: **happy news! i own SWAC now. lol, just kidding of course.

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ Mindless Scribbles_

_-_

-5-

Horrible Day: When It All Begins To Crumble

_-_

_Songs say more than what we can physically say._

_~author unknown_

"CHAD DYLAN POOPER!"

"Ahh!" I jolted awake and sat upright on my couch, glancing around wildly in search of the robbers. How did I know there were robbers in my dressing room? Well, it's quite simple. There were two possibilities- either I was going insane, or someone wanted an autograph of _the_ Chad Dylan Cooper and couldn't get pass the security guard to the set of Mackenzie Falls, so they came here and was going to wait, but instead, saw me sleeping on the couch and in terms of nervousness, messed up last name and called me "Chad Dylan Pooper" instead. Now really, which is more likely?

Grady popped up behind the couch. "Did we scare ya?" Nico grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

I sighed and shook my head. I _was _going insane. I stood up and began to comb out my hair, which was sticking out in all directions. Sadly, even Chad Dylan Cooper wakes up with hair like a zombie. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We have come to save you!" Zora shouted.

"From what?" I asked in aggravation. This hair was _not_ behaving.

"From destruction!" Zora said, motioning wildly with her hands. Just then, Tawni came in, a folded whiteboard at her side, and her other free hand holding a red marker.

"Oh no," I groaned, "Not the whiteboard!"

"Whoa!" Tawni gasped. She dropped the board and immediately took out her phone, "Chad," She snapped a picture, "Dylan," _Snap_, "Cooper" _Snap,_ "A wild _beast_?" She pressed the button again.

"Stop it!" I yelled, snatching the phone away from her. I quickly deleted the pictures and almost handed it back to her- then thought better of it and threw it backwards, wincing when it landed with a crash.

Tawni glared at me, "I just _got_ that phone!" She whined.

"Oh shut up," I retorted, going back to my mirror. I _needed _to get this hair right. Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't go out with hair like _this. _"You're rich, you'll get a new one."

Tawni crossed her arms and picked up the board. She set it up right in front of my chair while Zora whirled me around in it.

"Now listen here!" Tawni directed, pointing to the board. Once again, it was filled with little red notes that had five different handwritings. While some were nice and neat, others (ahem, Nico and Grady) were barely readable. Even the amazing Chad Dylan Cooper couldn't read it!

"Shane Gray is on a mission!" Zora yelled, jumping up and down. Truthfully, she looked a bit like a monkey, with her little pigtails and brown shirt.

"Whatever." I mumbled, trying to spin around to face the mirror.

"He's on a mission to destroy_ you_." Nico said.

"Yeah!" Grady added in for effect.

"Funny," I frowned at my reflection, "I'm trying to destroy him." I shrugged, then tried to flatten out the huge tangle of hair on the top, "Guess we'll just have to see who wins."

"He's taking Sonny out again!" Zora said impatiently.

I jumped up, my hair forgotten. "_No one_ but Chad Dylan Cooper can take Sonny Munroe out on multiple dates!" I declared, planting myself in front of the whiteboard.

Tawni smiled triumphantly and pulled out a camera, snapping random pictures of my hair. By now, I could care less about my horrible mess of hair, because what was more important was _Sonny_. Sonny Munroe, the girl I was in love with (yes, I had this whole argument with myself the other night, and finally came to a conclusion that I was in lovew ith her). Sonny Munroe, who was _supposed _to fall in love with me too! But Mr. Stupidpants was ruining that.

He ruined _everything_.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to pay attention to whatever the Randoms were talking about.

Zora was mentioning something about destruction again."So, you will go and destruct their--"

"Guys?" We turned and heard footsteps. I knew those footsteps. (Yes, if you're wondering, Chad Dylan Cooper pays attention to her footsteps.) I knew that voice. Heck, I knew she was going to come in here and find us plotting against her date for tonight. Part of me really wanted to come clean and tell her that we were on a bet (all while I really, truly did love her), but the other part of me held my mouth shut while somehow tackling my brain and forcing my feet to move toward the whiteboard, hurriedly erase everything and sit down in my chair, acting calm and collected.

"Oh," Sonny laughed, "There you guys are. I've been looking all over for you." Her eyes landed on mine. We stared at each other for a minute, but I swallowed nervously and looked away. "Chad?" She said increduously, "What happened? And what's with your _hair_?"

"Believe it or not," I began, "Even great drama stars like C.D.C might have bad hair days. This just happens to be one of them."

"Okay," She smiled, still trying to look me in the eye. When she finally gave up, she turned toward the Randoms. "Marshall wants us on the set in five."

"Kay!" Tawni skipped out of the room, only to come back in seconds later and bonk me on the head with a stick that miraculously appeared out of nowhere.

"Ow!" I complained, rubbing my head, "What'd you do that for?"

"That's for ruining my phone!" Tawni smiled wickedly and this time, skipped out for good. Even if that blonde was helping me, she could still be evil. Even to her own ally.

"Yeah, I gotta go." Zora said, climbing up a ladder to the vent. We heard some banging and a few "Ows," but a few minutes later, nothing was heard.

"Well, we gotta go get some fro-yos," Nico told us, rubbing his hands together in excitement. Grady grinned and they hopped out the door, waving goodbye to us.

"Well, I guess it's you and me." Sonny said, turning back. I sat in silence for a few seconds, taking in her perfectly curled hair, her _stupid_ cute clothes, and those gorgeous brown eyes. She seemed to be staring back, but I wasn't too sure of that.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to the set?" I asked, pointing to the door.

"Oh," She replied, looking backwards, "Right." Slowly, she turned and walked out.

I looked at her retreating figure, then called out, "Wait!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned around, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to... go out sometime?"

"You mean like," Her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way, "On a _date_?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "If you want it to be."

She stared down at the floor for a minute, then looked at me with those eyes again and smiled, "Okay. I'll call you!" And she left.

-

"Well, well, well," Shane snarled, punching my shoulder, "If it isn't Mr. Chad Dylan Pooper-Pants."

"Gee," I said sarcastically, rubbing my shoulder. For a guy that wears such tight pants, he sure punches _hard_. "Like I haven't heard _that_ one before."

"Just wanted to let you know," Shane grinned, "That I'm taking out Sonny tonight. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Whatever." I mumbled. We all headed into the commissary for lunch. I, for one, was actually excited today. Brenda had ordered a whole new pack of fresh steaks, and I was starving. Arguing with Mr. Stupidpants here and finally getting my hair perfect again made a guy hungry. Plus, the Randoms were in the cafeteria again, since their movie night was long gone.

"Chad!" Sonny waved me over and I happily obeyed. I could practically feel Shane's laser eyes burning into the back of my scalp. That was extremely unfair. _He_ had laser eye vision and I didn't?

"Hey, Sonny." I said, smiling. "Two steaks please." I ordered Brenda. She grunted in reply, then handed me two plates piled high with steak and steamed carrots. Call me crazy, but this guy actually _likes _vegetables.

"Uhh," Sonny breathed. I knew her mouth was watering, and I grinned, handing her one of the plates.

"Oh my gosh," She gushed, "I love you!"

It was like everything froze. "What?" I asked.

"I love you." She insisted, "You know, as a friend."

And everything went on again. My head drooped in disappointment. But did I really expect to believe that Sonny Munroe loved me, in _that_ way?

"Chad?" She asked, concerned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I quickly covered my emotions up and grinned again. "So, about that date."

"Oh yeah." She said, staring hungrily at the steak, "Uh, I'll call you later. Right now I've gotta get this steak into my stomach."

"So a steak is worth more than me?" I retorted.

"Yeah." She snorted, eyeing me with one of those flirty-playful-glare things. My bad mood was dropped, this was _so_ on.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good!" I shouted. Who cared if other people were watching us with interest?

"Good!" She replied, "Now, goodbye Chad." She grabbed a fork and sat down, her castmates' mouths hanging open. Rolling my eyes, I waved over at Brenda to deliver 4 more steaks. The Randoms _did _deserve something, with all their help, Shane was finally starting to realize who owned this place.

"Looks like you and Sonny were getting into a pretty heated argument." Portlyn commented as I sat down.

"Oh, please." Skylar said. Surprisingly, he was _nothing _like his character. His nice personality made me almost puke. "It wasn't a pretty heated argument."

We all looked at him in confusing.

"It was a pretty heated _flirting_ contest!"

The table (minus Shane) burst out laughing while I hid behind my napkin, cramming carrots into my mouth. Shane sat and crossed his arms, glaring at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Guys," I said, regaining my composture. "CDC doesn't flirt." As soon as I said that, the whole table, including me this time (minus Shane again), started laughing again.

I wiped an imaginary tear from my eye as I sighed with content and began to cut my steak.

"Someone's a little jealous." Portlyn whispered, winking at me. I looked up just in time as Shane threw his lunch away and stomped out of the cafeteria. Does _everyone_ stomp around here? I'd have to start doing something else when I'm mad. Stomping seems to be the new slapping or something.

The rest of lunch flew by. Everyone was talking, I heard the Randoms laughing at some joke Grady was making, and I really enjoyed my steak, especially after Shane left the room. As everyone began to leave the cafeteria, Sonny pulled on my sleeve.

"No one can pull on Chad Dylan Cooper's sleeve!" I said arrogantly.

"I believe Sonny Munroe just did!" She said back, using the same tone I had used. I had to admit, even though she was on that semi-funny comedy show, she had serious talent. It was too bad she left the Falls to go back to Chuckle City-- although some good things have come from the Randoms, like the alliance being formed and everything.

"What's up?" I asked.

"About our date," Sonny began. I fiddled with my thumbs (yes, I do that.) while she talked, hoping that maybe she would cancel on Shane so she could go out with me tonight. "I'll have to do it tomorrow." I sighed, but she barely noticed. "I'm going mini golfing with Shane tonight and--"

"In the dark?" I asked.

"Yeah..."

"But you could get whacked by one of those golf clubs!" I pointed out.

"Shane wouldn't do that." Sonny said, laughing.

"Fine. But don't come crying to me when you do get whacked in the eye and have to sit out on multiple sketches of_ So Random!_"

"Is Chad Dylan Cooper caring?" She teased. When I glared at her, she giggled and continued, "So anyway, I'll meet you in the parking lot tomorrow in the afternoon. You know, after all the rehearsals are done."

"What are we going to do?"

"Aren't you supposed to pick?" She replied, "You're the guy!"

"So? You're the girl!"

"But _guys_ usually pick the places they want to take the girl!"

"But I picked last time!" I wailed.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll pick."

"Yes!" I made a power fist and looked back at her. She was laughing at my childish behavior. "So, what are we doing?"

"I obviously haven't decided yet," She said, playfully hitting my shoulder, "I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Sure." I clicked my tongue and winked at her, feeling my Chad Dylan Cooper groove coming back on.

-

"I'm taking Sonny Munroe out tonight." I heard Shane boast to a bunch of people. I rolled my eyes and a group of guys showed their obvious jealously. Sonny really didn't know how bad guys have it for her.

"Did you hear that?" Shane asked, his voice rising, "I'm taking Sonny Munroe out tonight!"

"You already told me that." I pointed out.

"So?" He said, raising his eyebrows, "What? Are you jealous? Because if you are, I totally understand. Sonny is a--"

"For you information, I'm taking her out tomorrow. And I'm definitely not jealous," I said, "Besides, who takes a girl mini golfing at night? You could whack her in the face with that golf club!"

"Shane Gray doesn't whack his dates with golf clubs."

"Oh, so you talk in third person too?" I asked, feeling relieved. "Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one who did that." I paused, realization dawning on me, "You're taking over my life!"

"Huh?"

"First, you take Sonny. And now you're talking in third person! Are you jealous of me?" I roared, "Because I understand if you are. You just _can't_ take over my life!"

"Calm down," He said, laughing at me in a completely evil way, "I'm _not_ jealous of you. I've always talked in third person before."

"Yeah, right." I replied in a tone I hope he was scared of, "Just like you've always never been a jerk to everybody before!"

"Hey!" He yelled, "Camp Rock cleaned up my act. And that was like two years ago!"

"Just so you know," I said, "I'm _so_ going to win this bet."

"Are you? Are you really?" He mocked me.

"Yes! I am!" I declared, "Really!"

"Well just remember, Shane Gray doesn't lose his bets. And I know for a fact that Sonny will definitely fall for me before she falls for you." He laughed maniacally, "That is, if she even does fall for you."

The clicking of heels stopped our conversation. _Please_ do not let that be Sonny. _Please _do_ not _let that be Sonny!

It was Sonny.

And boy, did she look mad.

"So I was part of a bet?" She asked. I could practically see steam coming out of her ears. Her eyes began to water and my heart sunk. I absolutely _hated _it when girls cried. It made me _so _incredibly weak. She poked Shane's shoulder, "I actually thought you were a cool person. But I was _definitely_ wrong."

He shrunk and ran away. _Coward_. But now, as Sonny turned to face me, her eyes shining with those tears, I realized that I was about to break too- and run away just like Shane did.

"And you." She said, swallowing. "Chad Dylan _Cooper." _She spat. "I thought for a split second that you had changed. But you didn't. You were only _acting_, because this is all an act, isn't it? The laughing, the arguing, the way you looked at me?" She stopped for a second. "I actually thought you liked me. God, I feel so _stupid_."

"You aren't stupid--" I began to say, but she cut me off.

"But my biggest mistake," She said, shoving a CD into my hand, "My _biggest _mistake of all was falling. For _you_." She abruptly turned and walked away, leaving me with the CD she gave me, and not a clue to what had just happened. All I knew was that now Sonny had found out about our bet, and was never going to forgive me. I stared after her, running to the corner just to see her walk away before she turned down the hallway. And then I gulped, knowing I had a lot to work out. I'd have to do everything to get her back, but in the end, it was going to be worth it.

I _had_ to get her back.

But the only thing I could do right now was play the CD she had given me. Obviously, it had some sort of significance, because she had still given it to me when she was mad at me. I ran back to my dressing room, feeling miserable and opened it.

_The record company gave me one copy, so I could give it to someone special and let them preview it before it became public. Don't ask me why, but I chose you. Hope you like it._

_-Sonny_

I stuck it in the music player and pressed play. As good as the music was, it made me realize how much I had hurt her. As the song was wrapping up, my breath hitched and I listened closely.

_Who you are is falling over me _I was falling over you, Sonny. I really was.

_Who you are has got me on my knees _

_I'm hoping, I'm waiting, I'm praying you are the one _I swallowed hard and turned it off quickly. She deserved so much more than this. She deserved more than all of this.

Truthfully, even I knew:

She deserved better than me.

_Mission: Destroy Shane Gray_

_Slowly Falling Apart._

* * *

a/n: i'm just going to let you guys choose codewords this time. it's late, i just finished typing this, and i really don't have any codewords in mind, lol. so use whatever you want- just let me know what they are, because obviously, i can't read minds. though i seriously wish i could. i also wish i could fly... who agrees with me!? :P

by the way, i understand if you want to kill me after this chapter. i was so disappointed with this- but i had to write it. and then i rewrote it like 50 times to make it better, and this was the best i could do. sorry the ending was so abrupt. i probably should've waited till morning to fix it... but yeah. im stubborn like that. haha

i hope you still liked it though. tell me what you thought?

-h


	6. Mission: Abandoned

a/n: soo i decided that i should update today. hahah, ff is finally fixed and everything's normal again :P who else found out that you have no life wihtout fanfiction?

oh yeah! i finally decided to give twitter a try. so follow me at haylethepenguin (get it? hail the penguin. hahahah. and hayle is part of my name. yeah, i know, i'm lame. :P) yeah, and once i actually figure the confusing twitter out, i'll follow you :D

i'm running short on time, because i have to get going, so i can't thank everyone in this author's note. i'll thank everyone next chapter though, i promise :)

**disclaimer:**i don't own anything except the plot.

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ mindless scribbles_

-6-

Mission: Abandoned 

-

_A man's as miserable as he thinks._

_~Seneca_

I sat in the seat, fumbling with my car keys.

What was I doing? I _knew_ that Sonny was mad at me. I _knew _it would take more than a couple of apologies and flower for her to forgive. And I _knew _that she wouldn't bother to show up, like we had planned before she blew up at me.

Still, I found myself wandering around and ending up in the parking lot, some hope left inside of me. So here I was, waiting.

And waiting.

It seemed like forever before I finally heard footsteps. I turned around quickly, hoping to see Sonny walking toward my car. But it wasn't her. It was just some guy who did the lighting at Mackenzie Falls. I knew that he noticed me, sitting all alone in my car with the window rolled down, looking depressed and so un-Chad Dylan Cooper-ish, but he didn't say anything, probably because he feared that I would blow up and bonk him on the head with a crowbar or something.

I was so _stupid_.

Why in the world did I decide to pick a fight with Shane Gray? I could've just let him flirt and play around with Sonny, even if that jealousy could've eaten me alive. After a few weeks, it would've been all over. Shane would've left, his duties on _Mackenzie Falls_ done, and everything would have been back to normal. Sonny wouldn't be mad at me, and we could go back to our game of arguing all the time. Heck, I probably could've worked up the courage to ask her out on a _real_ date. And one that wasn't for some stupid bet.

I so wished that someone had invented a time machine.

Giving in to the fact that Sonny was never going to show up, I slowly walked back to the studio. I turned toward the set of _So Random!_, hoping that I could catch Sonny and apologize to her. She wasn't there though, so I shoved my hands into my pockets and strode toward my dressing room.

"Chad!" Portlyn called. Somehow, she had gotten into my dressing room and was perched on top a chair.

"Port? How'd you get in here?"

"I may not to be smart," She said, removing a hair pin from her head, "But I know how to pick locks!" She flashed a bright smile at me and leaned back into the chair, turning up the volume on the TV.

"But," I replied, flustered, "_Why_ are you in here?"

"To talk." She answered simply.

"About?"

She wheeled toward me and stared at me. "Don't play dumb with me, Chad Dylan Cooper. I _know _something's going on between you and Sonny. And maybe even Shane."

"I thought you were stupid."

The hurt on her face actually made me feel guilty and I muttered a quick apology, flopping down on the couch. She laughed hysterically for a second, then cleared her throat and began to talk.

"Chad, I know for a fact— actually, _everyone _knows that that Sonny Munroe has changed you. I mean, think about it. You used to _never_ apologize for calling me stupid."

"Yes I did!"

She fixed her gaze on me. "Chad, remember that one time I cried when you called me a stupid, dumb, absolutely air-headed girl?"

I made a 'psh' sound. "No."

She rolled her eyes. "I know you remember. And you didn't even apologize for _that_. Face it, Sonny Munroe _has _made you into another person."

"Alright, fine." I replied, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

She responded with another eye roll and patted my shoulder. "I know about your little bet with Shane and what happened last night. I was there." Portlyn nodded sympathetically.

"Were you _spying _on me?" I asked increduously.

"No, I'm not obsessed with you anymore." She said, "I was just walking by on my way to the commissary. I like to get a froyo once in a while." When I didn't answer, she stood up and made her way to the door. "Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that when you hurt a girl, she doesn't forgive you until you do something _really_ special."

"Why are you helping me? And for Sonny?"

"Because," Portlyn answered with a small smile, "After I got over you, I realized how much you liked her. Besides, I think you two make a cute couple. _And_ when you get together, Shane can be mine." She blew me one of her signature kisses and walked away.

_Wow_. Who knew that dim-witted curly-headed girl could come in handy? One thing for sure though, was that she was right. If I wanted Sonny to forgive me, I'd have to think of something really memorable.

-

Thinking of an apology that will definitely make a girl love you again is harder than it seems.

_You_ try it.

Yeah, too chicken, huh? That's what I thought.

After thinking about it for several days, I decided to just try out the classic apology-and-flowers thing. It couldn't hurt to try, right? I walked quickly toward the _So Random!_ prop house and spotted Sonny and Tawni there. Sonny glared while Tawni did her girly wave thing.

"Hey Tawni." I acknowledged, then faced toward Sonny. "Sonny,"

"Don't even _think_ about apologizing." She said.

I stared, then continued, deciding to ignore what she had said. "Sonny, I came here to apologize—"

"You don't need to apologize." Sonny replied.

I was taken aback. Surprised. Had she forgiven me? Or was this another one of her jokes? "I don't?" I said. Happiness was about to burst as she smiled at me.

"Yeah."

"So you forgive me?" I asked hopefully.

She laughed and shook her head. And then her glare returned. "No, I definitely do _not_ forgive you."

"Then I _need_ to apologize!" I pleaded, "Sonny, I _care_ about you. And no matter how much it doesn't seem like it, I really do. I might act like a jerk half the time, but that's just my way of—"

"How long?" She asked.

"What?"

"How long did it take you to come up with that oscar-worthy speech?" She stared me down, making me feel smaller and smaller. "It might work on some girls, but it won't work on me!"

"Sonny," Tawni spoke up, "I think you should just hear what he has to say."

Sonny whirled around and faced her castmate. "What? You think I should hear what he has to say when he and Shane only asked me out so they could win a bet? Whose side are you on anyway?" She demanded.

Tawni lowered her head and continued filing her nails. Sonny turned toward me again. "You don't need to apologize. Because it doesn't matter what you do. I'll _never _forgive you." Then she walked out and muttered something that sounded like, "I've already been used once. It doesn't need to happen again."

I stood stiffly in the same spot, glaring at the floor.

"Try again," Tawni offered, "Let her cool down a bit. Usually, it takes her a few days."

I nodded in thanks and went glumly back to the Mackenzie Falls studio.

-

Lunchtime came around and I was excited. And hopeful. Excited because even if I was miserable and lonely, I was hungry. And hopeful because maybe, just maybe, Sonny had calmed down and was ready to hear what I had to say. I had to admit that, yes, that other speech I had made before sounded corny and completely un-forgive-ful, but I really had meant it.

I looked around and spotted Sonny by the salad bar.

"Sonny," I began.

She cut me off before I could even start.

"Don't even try."

"But I really meant what I said, and I know that it sounds cliché, but I really _do _care about you." I blurted out, afraid that she wouldn't listen again, "You're the first girl that I ever actually _cared_ about."

"Oh," She mumbled sarcastically, "That makes me feel a whole lot better."

"Come on, Sonny." I was practically begging. I wondered if I got down on my knees, would she forgive me then?

"No."

"But I really meant what I—"

"You said that already." She snapped. "Just leave me alone."

I sighed as she walked back to her castmates' table. Tawni gave me a sympathetic look. And then what I saw made me rub my eyes and stare again.

Sonny actually _smiled_ at Shane Gray!

What was this!? How had Shane managed to convince her to forgive him when she _knew_ me much better than she knew him? I almost threw up when I saw Shane smile back, wave fliratiously, and smirk at me.

Portlyn, apparently, had seen the whole thing and came up to, patting my shoulder.

"What?" I spat, disgusted with the world.

"I saw what happened." She said.

"So? What do I care?" I asked nastily. "I don't care. Because I _don't_."

She stared. "Chad, you do care."

"How did _he_ get her to forgive him!? Sonny knows me _better _than she knows him! Oh, he's definitely Mr. Stupidpants now." I hissed, squinting at him and making what I hoped to be the meanest face ever.

"Apparently, Shane told her that the bet was all your idea." Portlyn stated.

"What!? But it was _his_ idea!"

"And then he said that you pinned him up against the wall until he agreed to do the bet." Portlyn finished.

"But I didn't!"

"Then you'd better come up with some for that girl." She winked at me, "And fast."

I shook my head in disbelief as I tossed my tray away. Shane Gray was _so_ annoying. How could he just lie that and get away with it? Sonny was a smart girl; she could always figure out who was lying and who wasn't. I groaned and bonked my head on the wall a few times. I wasn't so hungry anymore.

-

"We heard." Nico said, popping into my dressing room. And then along came the rest of the gang— Grady with his usual froyo, Tawni fixing her hair while looking into a mirror, and Zora jumping down from the vent.

"Heard what." I said in a monotone voice. I had been spinning around in this chair watching TV for the past three days, trying to come up with ways to apologize. So far, I have practically nothing. Aside from Mackenzie Falls rehearsals and other interviews that I couldn't skip out on, I forced myself to sit in this room and think, no matter how much I wanted to go over there and simply hug Sonny and say sorry a billion times until she forgave me. (Yes, I knew that that was a long shot.) It was a _really_ good thing that I was an actor— because without my great ability to cover up all my sadness, I probably would've ended up on the cover of Tween Weekly as "Chad Dylan Cooper, a Sufferer of Depression."

"You know what." Tawni accused, pointing her lip gloss at me.

"_And_," Zora said, comfortably seating herself on the ground, "You've been locking out everyone since the incident."

"What incident?" I asked absentmindedly, trying to concetrate on revolving around. I turned the volume up with the TV remote and heard a commercial about a plant destroyer. I sat up. I _needed_ that plant destroyer. The Mackenzie Falls meditation room had _way_ too much foliage in there.

"Call 1-800-PLANT! for your plant destroyer today!" The voice boomed.

I grabbed my cellphone and began dialing.

"Chad!" Tawni shrieked, "_What_ are you doing!?"

"Ordering a plant destroyer." I replied. Couldn't she see that? It was obvious!

"Dude, you've been ordering everything you see on that TV, haven't you?" Nico asked. I gulped and shook my head.

"Yes you have!" Grady yelled. He strode over to a table and began holding up several different items. "Pillow dye?"

I shrugged and weakly offered, "I thought my pillow was getting boring and needed some color?"

Everyone ignored me while Tawni held up something else. "Tissue Box Buffer?"

And then Zora had to join in too. "A _monkey_ _wrench_?" She walked over to me and grabbed my phone away from, pressing the off button.

"Hey!" I said, offended. "No one, especially a _Random_, could turn off my cell phone without my permission!"

"You are _waaay_ over your head with this." Grady said into a megaphone.

"Hey!" I yelled again. I had set up those megaphones into a specific order! It had taken me _hours_ to do that! "You _Randoms _destroy everything! Now I'll have to reset those megaphones again, and I won't even get my plant destroyer!"

As if on cue, Zora jumped up and slapped my face, just like that one time she was trying to get Tawni to snap out of it.

"You don't _need_ a plant destroyer." Tawni said gently. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I had no idea why, but whenever I was mad/upset/sad/depressed, I turned on the TV for hours and listened for infomercials so that I could order whatever the heck I wanted, no matter how stupid it looked.

"Look," Zora said, looking kind of guilty for slapping me. I mean, who could blame her? Nobody gets away with slapping Chad Dylan Cooper without feeling guilty! "We just need some time, and strategization, and plenty of money so you can shower Sonny with gifts."

Tawni miraculously pulled the whiteboard out again. "Let's review what had happened."

"No," I said, feeling pathetic. "I don't want to!" My voice cracked at the end and I cleared my throat.

They ignored me. "First, you had a plan to destroy Shane Gray." Tawni said, pointing at the top. Nico grabbed the stick from her and pointed to the second item.

"Then, Sonny heard you talking to Mr. Shane Gray and realized that you two were only taking her out for a bet."

Grady was next. "She comes back—"

Zora interrupted him, "And in that high pitched voice of hers, she says '_Everything's okay!'_"

"But it's _not_ okay." Tawni finished added.

"Because everyone knows that when Sonny uses that high pitched voice, she's in _denial_." Nico said, stretching out the word denial.

"And then, today, you've tried to apologize to her." Zora spoke up, "But she _didn't_ forgive you."

"At least not _yet_." Tawni said, trying to convince all of us that this was going to work out.

I stared dumbly at the whiteboard. Taking a long nap seemed very relaxing right about now. "Can you guys please go away?" I begged. They shook their heads and began brainstorming— without me!— different ways to get Sonny to accept my apologies. And then, even more different ways to destroy Shane Gray.

It was like they still thought I was going on with this mission.

But I wasn't. Absolutely not. The bet had done enough, and when I looked up and saw the Randoms staring at me, silence in the room, we all knew that I was giving up.

Yep, you heard right.

Chad. Dylan. Cooper. Was giving up.

To Shane Gray.

"Chad?" Tawni asked. I knew that they refused to believe it. Because everybody knew that I never gave up.

It was weird. I've liked thousands of girls before, and of course, those thousands of girls were dumped. It was supposed to be the same with Sonny, wasn't it?

But it wasn't. I'd hurt her, just like I'd hurt all those other girls, but this time, not only did _she_ feel terrible, I did too.

_Mission: Destroy Shane Gray_

_Abandoned._

* * *

a/n: ack! i hope you liked this chapter. i absolutely stink at writing sad stuff. hahah, im more of a comedy person. anyway, tell me what you think (:

by the way, a lot of you have been asking about the song that Sonny gave Chad. YES, that's a real song, and it's by the one and only Demi Lovato. it's calling _Falling Over Me_ and it's really incredibly good, so check that out once you get the chance.

i'll reply to your reviews on saturday, at the earliest. i'm sleeping over and doing stuff with my two very best friends for the next few days :D

also, i MIGHT be able to update before my birthday (aug 19th, hehe i'm excited), but i might not. just to let ya know, so you don't think i wandered off the face of the earth or anything.

anyhoo.

_buzz: you loved it_

_boom: you thought it was okay_

_zip: you hated it_

thanks for reading(:

-h


	7. 5 Days of Apologies

a/n at bottom(:

**disclaimer: **i totally wish i owned SWAC. or disney channel. but i dont :(

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ Mindless Scribbles_

_-_

-7-

5 Days of Apologies

_-_

_An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything._

_~Lynn Johnston_

"Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it, countrify then hip-hop it! Put your hawk in the sky move side to side, jump to the left, stick it, gliiiiide!"

"Oh my gosh!" I yelped, covering my ears, "Turn that off!" As much as I claimed to like Hannah Montana, I _really_ hated her music. She sounded like a nasally dead fish singing.

"Why?" Portlyn asked, turning it up just a little louder to annoy me, "I like it!" She started singing along and dancing to it.

"Ew!" Tawni said as she burst into the room. "Why are you listening to _Hannah Stink-tannah_?"

Portlyn grinned and blasted the music, making the room vibrate. "Zig zag! Cross the floor! Shuffle in diagonal, when the drum hits, hands on your—Hey!" She whined. Tawni had rushed over the stereo and turned it off. _Thank goodness._

"What's wrong with Hannah Montana?" Portlyn demanded, her hands on her hips. _Ironic, isn't it?_

"What's wrong with her?" Tawni said, "She sings like a nasal dead fish!" I smirked. Looks like Blondie and I had the same thoughts about that country-pop-whatever-you-call-that-music singer.

"Whatever." Portlyn grumbled, flopping down on one of the couches. She turned on the TV and began watching Hannah Montana's TV show intently.

"Chad!" Tawni said, walking over from the stereo over to the desk. "I've got some tips for you!"

"Tips? You mean like, Tawni Tips?" I groaned, "Because let me tell you, I am _not_ doing that bite, wipe and gloss thing again!"

"No, you silly goose." Tawni replied, slapping my arm, "Tips on how to apologize! I got a text from James—"

"_James_?" Portlyn cried, "James Conroy? The love of my life!?"

I gave her a confused look. "I thought you liked Shane Gray."

"Well," Portlyn said, "I do. But I like James too." She fell back against the seat, "Oh, great! Now I can't decide between the two!" She began rubbing her temples as if she had a killer headache— something that _I _was experiencing right now.

"So anyway," Tawni said, facing me again. "James' text said—"

"James!" Portlyn wailed.

Tawni shook her head and rolled her eyes impatiently, "It said 'Five Different Ways to Apologize.' You should definitely check it out." Her eyes lit up at the last three words and she began doing the dance from their 'Check it Out Girls' sketch. Not that I watch _So Random!_ or anything.

"I'm not checking out anything." I replied, "I gave up, remember?"

She stared at me for several moments before she made a 'tsk' sound. "Chad Dylan Cooper, you mean to say that you're just going to give up like that?"

"Yup."

She mumbled incoherently for a few seconds. "Okay, I can understand if you don't want to destroy Shane—"

Portlyn interrupted. "Shane!"

"Shut your heavily glossed mouth!" Tawni snapped, then returned to me. "Anyway, I understand if you don't want to destroy Shane," She glared at Portlyn to make sure she wouldn't interrupt, "But you're going to give up apologizing to Sonny?"

"Yeah," Portlyn said, apparently having forgotten her boy crisis, "You guys are going to be working in the same lot for a long time. You can't keep ignoring and avoiding each other, especially since you two actually have _feelings_ for each other!"

Tawni sighed, "You know, Portlyn. You actually seem pretty smart. Why would you act like an air-headed lunatic all day?"

"Because _I_," Portlyn said, gesturing to herself, "Want to _surprise_ people."

"Well _I_," Tawni replied, "Am _pretty_!"

I glanced up at the ceiling and began counting the tiles. Maybe they could see how bored I was with this discussion and leave. _1, 2, 3, 4—_

"So, Chad!" Tawni clapped her hands, "What's your decision?"

_5, 6_

"Yeah," Portlyn asked, "What's your decision?"

"I just asked that!" Tawni said, glaring at the brunette beside her.

_7, 8_

"Yeah, well I just asked it again!"

_9, 10_

"Well I'm _pretty_!"

_11, 12_

Pretty soon, I was at 178 and they still haven't stopped arguing yet. _179, 180, 181—_

"Okay, Chad. I'm going to send you a text every day of the week— every text being a different tip of course, and you're going to use those tips and apologize to Sonny." Tawni declared, whipping out her phone. I squinted at it and then realized she had made me lose my place.

"You made me lose my place!"

She gave me a weird look. "What?"

"I was counting the tiles on the ceiling!"

"Whatever, Chad. You read the text while we go get manicures." Portlyn said.

"What?" I was seriously confused now. "Weren't you just arguing about who's prettier a few seconds ago?"

"Yeah, but we're all made up now!" Tawni said, "I'm still_ pretty _though!" The two walked out together, obviously not 'made up', since their next argument was loud enough for the whole world to hear.

It was hard to believe, but the two were right. I felt like bird poop, but I still owed Sonny more than just two tries at an apology. Especially when she admitted to having this done to her before. It made me feel even more bird poopish to hear that. Hear that someone had hurt her before, just so they could win a bet.

What a jerk.

But it sort of made me think about how much of a jerk I had been.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. Then I held up my phone and called Tawni, telling her to text me the first tip.

-

_Monday- Don't get defensive and be all, "I don't have anything to apologize for!" Think about it._

Think about it. That's what I had to do? Think about apologizing to Sonny? Just _that_? Well let me tell you something, that's _all_ I had been thinking about ever since Sonny found out about the bet. Needless to say, Chad Dylan Cooper didn't spend his days thinking of ways to apologize to a girl, but Sonny was different. Sonny was _very_ different. It was like a comparison to a roller coaster. While the other girls I've dated made me feel like I was on a little merry-go-round, Sonny Munroe made me feel like I was on one of those huge, tall, terrifying roller coasters that made your heart beat faster, your hands all sweaty, and your head so dizzy you felt like you were about to pass out.

In other words, I was desperate for her to forgive me.

Tawni had said that the apologizing tips actually worked, because apparently, James had done them and now all she could think about was how much he had changed and how sweet he was for apologizing to her. Pfft. I doubt they had actually worked, and she was probably saying that just to make me use the tips, but since I was so desperate, I was actually thinking that it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

I dug into my meatball sandwich (because it was Meatball Monday) and thought while I chewed. Because that's what it said— to think.

So I thought.

And thought.

Basically, I took the advice literally and thought about it. For the whole day. And what I'd come up was: these tips were whacked and they would never work.

-

_Tuesday: On your knees, begging. Expect to beg for a long time, but not forever._

_"_Begging?" I whined, stomping my foot.

"Yes, begging." Tawni replied, barely looking up from the sketch she was working on. After I'd received the latest text from her, I flew to her dressing room (which, of course, Sonny wasn't at), and began complaining about how weird the tips were.

"Go!" Tawni shooed me away.

I turned and saw Sonny walking in. At the sight of me, her eyes widened and she began to walk away, but I caught her arm before she could.

"Sonny," I pleaded, bending down to get on my knees. This was_ so_ uncomfortable, "Just listen to me. I'm sorry, okay?"

"You said that already." She said flatly. "Three times, to be exact."

I sighed and brought my hands up, in common begging form. "Just, please, please, _please_, forgive me?"

She stared at me, because we both knew the answer was no.

"_Please_?" I tried again. I heard Tawni stifling a laugh from the corner of the room and whipped around to glare at her. She actually looked slightly shocked, but stopped giggling. Taking another deep breath, I turned to Sonny again.

"Sonny, I _meant _what I said. And I said what I meant." I grinned, an old Dr. Seuss quote forming in my head. I switched the words around, in an attempt to lighten up the mood, and still get her to forgive me, "Chad Dylan Cooper's faithful, 100 percent!"

"Dr. Seuss?" Sonny cracked up for a second, then cleared her throat and forced herself to glare at me again. "Really, Chad, really?"

I smirked. This tip was actually _working_! Laughing and using my lines against me must mean that she was ready to forgive me. Now all I had to do was beg some more.

"Sonny?" I asked, looking at her with what I hoped to be puppy dog eyes, "Do you forgive me?"

She stared hard at me. "No."

"But I used Dr. Seuss!"

"Yeah, but obviously, Dr. Seuss doesn't work on certain girls, does it?" She promptly turned on her heel and walked away.

A low whistle came from the vent. "Look at that," Zora commented, "She's starting to forgive you!"

"Yeah, looks like these tips actually work, _huh_?" Tawni added.

I smiled to myself. Even though Sonny hadn't quite forgiven me fully yet, she was starting to show signs of letting go of her anger and accepting my apologies.

-

_Wednesday: From the heart. When my friend was three years old and banged his little sister on the head with Buzz Lightyear, his mother witnessed his apology. "That's not a sincere apology," she said. "You should mean it." "Form first," she added. "We'll work on sincerity later." By the time he was five or so she figured he should be able to understand the concept of meaning it."_

"From the heart?" I demanded, storming into Tawni's dressing room again. "Don't you know that I've been apologizing from the heart a long time ago!?"

"Are you going to come in here and complain about these tips everyday?" Tawni asked.

"Yes!"

"Well then fine, I won't send them to you anymore."

"Good!" I shouted.

"No way am I playing that game with you." Tawni called out, "And anyway, without these tips that are _actually working_, you'll never get Sonny to forgive you now!"

No way. I needed Sonny to forgive me. Couldn't that blonde headed Random see that? It was a good thing she had sent me a tip before this. Learning from past experiences could help you with future ones. I squatted down on my knees and brought my hands up together.

"Will you forgive me? I need those tips!" I said.

Tawni burst out in laughter. "Don't even try to work those tips on me, Cooper! And what'd you think? I was really going to stop sending you them? Way to make me feel mean and cruel!" A paused. "Oh wait, I _am_ supposed to be mean and cruel! What has the world turned me into?" She cried, furiously running out of the door.

I shrugged and spotted Sonny making her way past the potted plants and into the prop house. Tiptoeing quietly down the hallway, I collected my acting ability so I could exaggerate how honest I was and how much I really wanted her to forgive me, although it really wasn't acting out— I _really_ wanted her to forgive me and realize how honest I was when I said that the only way I could show her I cared about her was if I acted like a jerk most of the time.

"Chad." She said. "What are you doing here."

This was going great! She acknowledged me first! That had to mean something, didn't it?

"I came to apologize," I said, gesturing wildly, "From my _heart_."

For the second time this week, she burst out laughing. "That was hilarious, Chad Dylan Cooper!" Then she caught herself and said, "Don't _ever_ say that again."

"But I am!" I replied, "I'm apologizing to you. From my heart."

She wrinkled her nose at me and I tried not to die from all the cuteness. "Anyway," I began, "Sonny, I really meant what I said. And I'm really, _really_ sorry. I'll even apologize 250 times if that's what it'll take for you to forgive me."

Her gaze softened and she looked at me in the eye. "Really?" She asked.

"Really."

My leg shook as she thought about it. Was she going to finally forgive me? I was about to jump up and down (in the cool, Chad Dylan Cooper way) of happiness but then she smiled and said, "Then apologize to me 250 times."

"I'm sorry," I began to say.

"I'm counting," She grinned, writing a tally mark on a piece of paper.

I groaned. What was I thinking? I couldn't apologize 250 times! I was Chad Dylan Cooper, for pete's sake. Apologizing more than three times to Sonny was already tiring me out. I would have to move on. And read the next tip.

-

_Thursday: With Candy and flowers._

"With candy and flowers?" I asked childishly to Tawni.

"Yes, what do you have to complain about that for?" She asked, annoyed. I'd probably interrupted something, because she was looking up from her computer screen with an expression that showed she was about to rip out my throat and bake me in the oven or something.

"Oh," I frowned, "I don't."

"Then go!" She roared, pointing towards the door.

I gave her an offended look and went. Went to buy chocolate. I knew Sonny loved chocolate. Especially dark chocolate. So I bought her a box of the nicest looking ones and proceeded to spend some money on flowers. Sonny loved sunflowers (coincidence?). I took a huge bouquet of them and lined up, occasionally adjusting my sunglasses so no one would recognize me.

"For that special someone?" The cashier asked, grinning. She rang up the items and I paid quickly, running back to my convertible.

I waved at Josh/Jeff, the mail guy until he stopped and scowled at me. But who cared? I was delivering flowers and chocolate to Sonny, and when this was all finally over, and she had forgiven me, I would forget that the mail delivery guy constantly frowned at me.

"Give these to Sonny."

"Munroe?"

I squinted at him. "Is there another Sonny in this building?"

"I was just asking." He mumbled, putting the flowers and chocolate in his cart. I ignored him and walked back to my dressing room. Waiting until I thought for sure that they were delivered, I ran over to the _So Random!_ studio and caught Sonny staring at the gifts with a giant smile on her face.

"Who do you think they're from?" She asked Tawni, who was filing her nails.

"Who do you think?" She answered.

"I don't know," Sonny said, "Maybe that guy—"

"Girl," Tawni laughed, "You are _so_ completely oblivious to the fact that Chad Dylan Cooper likes you!"

Sonny frowned, "I thought we were talking about these flowers and chocolates."

"We are!" Tawni cried, "They're from Chad!"

"Chad?" Sonny asked.

I took that as my cue and sauntered in. "Yes?" Looking at the bouquet of flowers and the box of chocolates on the table, I added in a nonchalant way, "Oh, I see you received my gifts."

"They were really from you?" Sonny asked in awe.

"Is that really such a big surprise?"

"But why?" She questioned.

"Why do you think!?" Tawni spoke up.

"Because you really meant what you said when you were apologizing to me?" Sonny said, looking at me with this kind of sincerity in her eyes.

I shrugged and looked down. I hated it when these particular moments got sappy, it made me feel all shy and definitely not Chad Dylan Cooper-ish.

"That's so sweet." She said, smiling.

"So you forgive me?" I asked hopefully.

"We'll see." She winked at me and walked away.

Tawni sighed and banged her head against the wall. "Ow!" She complained, "I don't get why people do that, it hurts so much!" After rubbing her head and checking her hair, she grinned, "She's definitely forgiven you _now_."

-

_Friday: Say you're sorry once, genuinely said, with all the sincerity you can muster. Then let it go. Like a message in a bottle, send it off, be patient and hope it lands in receptive hands._

I knew Sonny was slowly softening up, and I knew that by now, she had definitely calmed down and was ready to forgive me for my foolish acts. (Yes, I was quite foolish.)

Tawni had texted me for the last time on Friday, ending her note with a giant smiley face that only _she_ could use— it was hot pink and had giant hearts as its eyes. It sort of, kind of made my eyes burn.

At first, I thought I'd better go through with my routine and complain about this tip, but since this thing was actually working, I decided to give Tawni a day off and just follow through with the plan. Saying sorry once, with all the sincerity and then let it go and hope that Sonny would get the message that I liked—loved her and forgive me. It didn't even matter to me anymore if she still liked me. All I wanted was to go back to the way it was before; Sonny and me arguing, with the occasional sweet moment together.

I slowly walked toward the commissary. It was lunchtime, and I figured if I said it in the cafeteria when everybody could witness it, she could figure out that it took me a certain amount of courage (in other words, a lot of courage) to apologize to her in front of everybody. I saw her by Brenda the lunch lady, who was scooping mystery meat onto her plate. She grimaced her cute-grimace and walked away, not noticing that I purposely bumped into her.

"Hey, Sonny." I said quietly.

"What do you want, Chad?" I noticed that her tone didn't really have quite the same edge to it— it was more of how she used to say it; just a little bit annoyed, but mostly happy to see me. And you have no idea how excited that made me feel.

I looked into her eyes, making sure that she was looking back. I took a deep breath and said clearly, "I'm sorry." Then I turned and walked out of the cafeteria. I didn't look back, because if I did, I couldn't surprise myself later— with what I hoped to be a forgiving Sonny, and one of her brilliant smiles to show me that she cared again.

* * *

a/n: how'd i do? i know this chapter didn't end with the usual _Mission: Blah blah blah, enter, blah blah blah_, but that didn't quite fit into this chapter.

it's sad to say. but i have to say it. there's only 2 more chapters left! -gasp- i know. i won't say bye yet, partly because this isn't even finished yet AND i hope you'll check out my other stories once this is over. i've planned a bunch of oneshots, and a few new multi-chaptered stories, including one that has the plot of So Random! and Mackenzie Falls being stranded on an island. ;)

thank you so very much: **ScribblesOfLove, taswacconverselover, making it to dawn, 0Sally0, have-a-cookie, li'miss sunshine, Yummy Yummy Bubblegum, ChannyandSterlinglover1123, alliebearlove, JesicaJinx, Sunset Clouds, HorriblyAddicted, LoveStar1026, Jensen Jonas, RandomTaylor13, TrinityFlower of Memories, Capt. Butch Flowers, Don'tTellMeDon'tWriteBack, xxHeadInTheStarsxx, klcthenerd, BlackMidnight1, and sonnycentral **for reviewing!

who else watched "Guess Who's Coming to Guest Star" on youtube (in spanish w/ english subtitles) and feels guilty? hehe

oh and by the way, i have nothing against hannah montana/ miley cyrus. i just don't like her music... and that song in the beginning was stuck in my head because my sister actually did a dance to it. garr =\ plus, i thought it would give chad something to complain about, which is in my opinion, hilarious. :P

now, i've gotta get back to my summer reading. its killing meeee :(

_calculator: you loved it_

_sting: you thought it was okay_

_court: you hated it_

thanks for reading!

-hayley


	8. Mission: Complete

a/n: so i figured out that this whole time i've been spelling sonny's last name wrong. i thought it was munroe, but when i watched sonny in the kitchen with dinner, it said monroe on chad's phone. i guess i'll have to change my spelling ways. haha

anyway, who else loves seeing friendship between chad and tawni? i love it, chad can go out with sonny and then all three of them can be really good firneds. :)

who got the SWAC dvd? anybody watch the unaired episode? i thought it was hilarious, though it didn't have any channy, except a little bit in the beginning :(

anyway, i present to you the 2nd last chapter of this story!

**disclaimer**: i don't own anything except this brilliant plot. :P haha

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ mindless scribbles_

-8-

Mission: Complete

-

_You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.  
_

_~Edmund Hillary_

It was exactly 3:33 AM.

How nice.

You might be wondering why Chad Dylan Cooper was up this late, staring blankly out the window at the dark sky. Maybe it was because I hoped that a shooting star or something would come by. But I knew that only happened in movies. And books. This wasn't a movie. Or a book, for that matter. It was real life.

And staring out the window at 3:33- er, 3:34 was _boring_.

I couldn't get to sleep. I definitely _tried_, but I couldn't. Not even a little bit. As soon as I would start to drift off, a terrifying nightmare would begin to happen and I would be suddenly upright in my bed and completely awake again. So after about a billion tries to get to sleep, I wandered over to the window.

And that was why Chad Dylan Cooper was up at 3:34- er, 3:35 in the morning.

Insomnia sucks.

I hadn't seen Sonny for the rest of the day after lunch, so I had no idea what to expect for tomorrow. Tawni came in a few times to tell me that she was in a good mood and probably forgave me, and Portlyn came in to watch Hannah Montana again, but I still had no clue what would happen. So many questions were unanswered. Had she forgiven me? Or did she think I was lame? Was she still mad at me? Did she finally figure out what a stupidpants Shane Gray was? Did he ask her out on another date? Did she accept?

I didn't want to admit.

But I have to.

I. Was. A. Hopeless. _Loser_.

Seriously, who stays up all night wondering these kinds of things? My sister had always told me that in books and movies, guys still _sleep_ for a good eight hours or so, even if they were in this very situation that I was having right now. So basically, she just told me that I was lame.

I was lame, wasn't I?

There's another question.

I crawled back under my covers and stared up at the ceiling, the questions wandering through my brain. After giving up again, I switched on the light and began reading Tween Weekly. If I was going to stay up all night, I might as well prepare for my interview tomorrow. I couldn't mess up on national television, even though my life was pretty messed up right now.

Flipping through the pages, I spotted an interview that Tween Weekly had done with Sonny. Feeling like a complete stalker, I began to read.

_TW: So what exactly do you look for in a guy?_

_SM: -laughs- Well, he would have to have a great personality. Someone that would tease me or something and not be too serious. Although serious is good too, he would have to know when to be serious and when not to be serious, you know? Oh, and I probably wouldn't mind it if he made me laugh all the time. I love it when guys cheer you up when you're all depressed. _

I stopped reading. I teased her, right? And I was serious sometimes too! And when she was depressed that one time for her secret prom, I made her all happy again, right? So technically, she had to be speaking about me.

Or maybe I was being paranoid again and hoping for _way_ to much.

_TM: How about the looks? Do you have a preference of eye color?_

_SM: Well, as long as they're totally and completely cute. -laugh-_

_TM: -chuckle-_

_SM: But no. I would have to say I absolutely _love_ blue eyes. _

I stared at Sonny's answer and read it over again. Over and over and over again. Ten times, to be exact. When I was sure that I wasn't hallucinating and that she had, in fact, said that she loved blue eyes, I literally jumped up and down like a little boy receiving a Christmas gift.

_I_ had blue eyes.

Did Shane Gray have blue eyes?

I didn't _think_ so!

I checked the issue number on the title quickly. _August 25th. _That was yesterday. And yesterday was the day that I had apologized to her five times. Maybe I wasn't hoping for too much. Maybe she really was talking about me. Maybe Tawni wasn't joking when she said that those apologizing tip worked. And maybe, just _maybe_, Sonny Munroe had forgiven me.

With my newfound hope and happiness (gee, I was starting to _really _sound like a loser), I lay back down on my bed and promptly fell asleep.

-

I walked through the halls of Condor Studios with disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, and worst of all, a completely non-arrogant, non-Chad Dylan Cooper-ful expression.

It was horrible_._

After I'd finally fallen asleep my dreams were horrifying- even if I had that 'newfound hope and happiness' inside of me. The worst dream was Sonny sticking her tongue out at me, calling me a loser (which made me feel like an even bigger loser- how much more loser-ish can you get?) for trying to apologize to her, and moving away back to Wisconsin forever, promising me that she'd never, _ever_ talk to me again.

If there was one thing Chad Dylan Cooper was scared of, it was that the girl of his dreams would move away. And promise not to ever talk to him again.

As I walked toward the cafeteria to get something to eat (four hours of sleep equals waking up late, rushing into the shower and having _no_ time for the most important, and my favorite, for that matter, meal of the day), I saw Tawni skipping toward the the commissary too. Nico and Grady were close behind, followed by a bright and cheerful Sonny, and a half asleep Zora doing the zombie walk.

I rubbed my neck and told myself to keep going, to face my fear of Sonny never forgiving me, but I just couldn't do it. So I turned quickly before any of the Randoms could see me, ignoring the hunger noises coming from my stomach. Chad Dylan Cooper could stand hunger. Definitely.

Apparently, Portlyn had reached my dressing room before me, and of course, she just couldn't wait like a regular girl or something and let herself in. I needed a better lock system.

"Chad!" She greeted, tearing her eyes away from the TV screen just for a moment. "How are you today?"

"Why don't you just watch TV in your own dressing room?" I asked, setting down my stuff.

"Because Chastity keeps singing karaoke, and let me tell you, she is _horrible_!" She complained. "Plus, I wanted to see if your apologies worked."

"Well," I replied, "I, er... haven't exactly seen her yet."

"Liar!" Portlyn declared, pointing her index finger at me.

I stepped back, "What?"

"When you say 'er...,' you're lying. Which either means you haven't apologized five times, or you _have_ seen her today." She said, staring me down. I took another step backwards and focused on staring at her nose. Did you know that noses suddenly turn gigantic when they're the only thing you're looking at?

"So?" She asked impatiently, poking my shoulder.

"So, what?"

"Which one is it?"

"Which one, what?" A confused voice asked. _Saved_. I turned around, hoping to see Skyler or something, but instead saw Sonny and a stupid-cute confused look on her face.

So much for being saved.

"Uh..." Portlyn darted across the room toward the door. "I'll see you guys later!"

I sighed. Now what? Was I supposed to say something? Or was I supposed to wait for her to say something? Was I supposed to bring up the subject of me being a jerk and then apologizing to her?

Sonny's brown eyes landed on mine. "It was really sweet of you to apologize to me so many times." She smiled, "I have to admit, you've really come through."

I awkwardly smiled back, then in a hopeful voice asked, "So you forgive me?"

She laughed, then cleared her throat. "Not exactly."

There went that happiness. _Whoosh_. Down the drain.

"See, I'm sure Portlyn or Tawni have told you this before, but I'll tell you again." She said, "If you want a girl to forgive you, you have to apologize to her in a creative way." She patted my back comfortingly.

"So after all those apologies you _still _haven't forgiven me?" I stared at her, "Not even a little bit?"

She looked at me with those eyes again. "Let's just say I haven't forgiven you _completely_."

I was confused. What did she mean? "So you mean... you _have_ forgiven me a little bit?"

She chuckled and winked at me, turning toward the door. "That's for me to know, and for you to figure out."

I stared after her retreating figure, then slapped my forehead. What was I supposed to do now? Chad Dylan Cooper had completely run out of ways to apologize.

I whipped out my phone. I was going to need backup. From the _Randoms_.

"Hello?" Tawni chirped through the phone.

"I need your help."

"_Chad_?"

"Of course it is!" I snapped impatiently, "I need you and the rest of your little Random Squad to get your butts over here and help me figure out a 'creative way to apologize' to Sonny!"

"Geez," Tawni replied in an annoyed tone, "Grouchy today, are we?"

Ten minutes later, Tawni, Grady and Nico stood by the doorway stiffly, like I was their army commander and they were the little soldiers fighting. Zora yawned and rubbed her eyes, muttering a "What time is it?"

"I talked to Sonny just now." I began, but then was rudely interrupted by Nico.

"Did she forgive you?" He asked excitedly.

I glared at him. "I was _getting _to that."

"Sorry, master." He bowed his head down as everyone except Grady gave him a weird look.

"_Anyway_," I said through gritted teeth, "She said that she hasn't completely forgiven me yet. I mean, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, that's easy." Grady said. Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Don't you get it?" He asked, "She hasn't forgiven you _completely_ yet."

"Way to state the obvious, Einstein." Zora said flatly.

"Ooh!" Grady said, sparked with excitement, "Einstein!" He faced Nico, who was also grinning like a caveman, "We should dress up as mad scientists for Halloween!" They made a powerfist and high fived, clearing their throats and calming themselves down when they saw my big glare, Tawni's exasperated look, and Zora's eyes closing, halfway there to their journey of sleep.

"Your eyes are red." Tawni randomly pointed out.

"_Thanks_." I muttered sarcastically, "I spent half the night awake wondering if Sonny had forgiven me. What other color would my eyes be? _Purple_?"

"I was just saying," Tawni said, giving me an offended look. "Anyway, I have the perfect plan! It's not exactly what you would creative, but I'm sure it'll definitely bring Sonny to forgive you!"

"What is it?" Nico asked.

"Does it have to do with _Narnia_?" Grady added, grinning.

"No!" Tawni replied, tossing her hair, "Chad, you said you had an interview today, right?"

"Right."

"So, during your interview, Tween Weekly's bound to ask you questions about the opposite gender. So when they ask you stuff, just spit out that you've hurt Sonny and you're embarrassing yourself on _national television_ just to get her to forgive you!"

My mouth hung wide open. "I'm _not_ doing that! Chad Dylan Cooper _can't_ embarrass himself on TV!"

Tawni sighed irratibly, "Do you have any _better_ ideas?"

I sat thoughtfully for a second, trying to come up with any idea that was better than _that_. There was no way I was going to embarrass myself, even for Sonny.

Or was I?

Coming up with nothing, I mumbled a "No," giving Tawni a satisfied expression.

"Good." She said, then clapped, "Ooh, I give great advice. And I'm _pretty_!"

Zora yawned widely, then raised her hand. "Are we allowed to go now? I'm itching to go crawl back into my vent and sleep." I nodded and she fled from the room.

Nico and Grady laughed, rubbing their hands together. "Are we allowed to go too? We have to start getting ready for _Hal-lo-ween!_" I gave a weird stare and apparently they took that as a yes, since they also ran out of the room.

Tawni sighed blissfully, then plopped herself down on a stool and whipped out a nail file.

"Uh, aren't you going to go too?" I asked.

"No, I wanna watch you embarrass yourself on _national television_!" She called out excitedly. "Get ready to go from _smooth_, _cool_, Chad Dylan Cooper to-" She giggled, "Geeky, in-love Chad!"

I groaned and bonked my head against the wall.

-

My hands were sweating. It was crazy.

_I_ was crazy.

How would I be able to do this? It's not everyday that a famous celebrity _purposely_ decides to embarrass himself on TV. In fact, I don't even think _anyone_ has done that before.

_This is for Sonny,_ I reminded myself over and over again. _This is for Sonny._ Sonny _better _forgive me after this. Chad Dylan Cooper definitely does not ruin his reputation for nothing!

I looked around in hopes of spotting Tawni. She wasn't here like she said she would be. Where the heck was that blondie? Did she purposely ditch me so I would be even more nervous? I hated to admit it, but during this whole war thing against Shane, she'd actually become one of my closest friends. Surprisingly, she had the brains to figure out my weaknesses, one being her not here when I actually_ needed _her before I went off to humiliate myself in front of billions of people!

"Chad Dylan Cooper, you're on in two minutes." A guy near the curtain told me. I nodded, wiping my hands on my pants, hopefully getting some sweat off.

Those two minutes passed by too quickly, and now was the time to relax. I had done this before. All I needed to do differently was tell everyone I was in love with Sonny Munroe on TV, and that I was sorry for hurting her that way.

I could do this. Definitely.

"And here he is, one of the greatest actors of our generation, _Chad Dylan Cooper_!" Hearing crazy fangirls screaming at the sight of me calmed me down a bit. I regained my composture and laughed lightly, waving towards the audience and sitting down on the empty couch across from Santiago Heraldo- the evil man who made me known as the world's most hated puppy-shover a few years ago.

"Thanks, Santiago." I said, "But I'm not _one_ of the greatest actors, I'm _the_ greatest actor of our generation." The audience cracked up and Santiago grinned.

"The greatest and most conceited!" He announced.

I sat, fumbling with my hands. Hopefully he would ask the relationship questions at the end, so when I embarrassed myself I could hop away and hide my flaming red cheeks that was bound to show.

"So, Chad." Santiago began, "We've heard that _Mackenzie Falls _is _really_ getting into a lot of drama for the next season. Can you tell us anything about it?"

What an easy question. I've rehearsed this a thousand times with Xavier. "Well, Santiago. Since _Mack Falls_ is the number one tween drama show, it obviously will be getting into drama-filled action every season. I can say that maybe one or two actors will get axed on the next season, due to an 'accident.'"

His eyes widened, "And could you tell us what accident that might be?"

I chuckled. "The writers are in the process of writing the scripts right now, so nobody really knows except them."

The next few questions were relatively easy. I did have a hard time coming up with an answer for "Who would you rather date? Sonny Munroe or Tawni Hart?" but I got through it. Chad Dylan Cooper _always _got through the rough questions.

A few minutes after the last of the easy questions, Santiago nodded and hit a button on a remote. _Uh oh_. A picture of Sonny showed up on the screen as the audience cheered and he grinned widely, "We've heard a lot of rumors about you and Sonny Munroe. Can you describe your relationship with her?"

"We..." I racked my brain nervously, trying to come up with a decent answer, "We're just friends?" Curse my voice! It wouldn't listen to me! Why did it go up at the end, like I was questioning myself?

The audience started 'boo'ing, giving us the thumbs down, and Santiago commented, "Doesn't look like you're sure of that. Really, tell us. Are you two dating?"

Here we go. Time to embarrass myself. Fun, fun, fun. I swallowed, willing my brain to stop my cheeks from turning red. Chad Dylan Cooper could _not_ look like a tomato.

"Well?" Santiago asked impatiently, "Are you two dating or not?"

I looked down and mumbled, "I _wish_ we were dating."

The audience gasped and Santiago looked taken aback. "_Really_?" He asked, intrigued. "Can you tell us more?" He motioned toward the audience, and on cue, they started chanting "Tell us more! Tell us more!"

I knew there was no stopping me now. I'd already gotten this far, so why not keep going? "Can I tell a story?"

"Of course!" Santiago nodded.

"A couple of weeks ago, I made this... bet."

"Was it about Sonny?"

I gulped and nodded, "I knew it was wrong, but I kept going and when she found out, it really hurt her. And when I tried to apologize to her, she wouldn't forgive me. So here I am, apologizing to her on TV. I don't know if she'll forgive me, even now, but I just really wanted to let Sonny Munroe know that..." I stopped, looking out at the audience.

They stared back at me. I stood up, "Sonny Munroe, I want you to know that I love you and I'm really, truly sorry for what I did."

The crowd erupted in cheers and a few even yelled out 'Awhs!"

I smiled awkwardly and the director yelled 'CUT!'

"Great job, Chad." Santiago said, patting my back, "Way to apologize to a girl. Maybe you aren't such a conceited jerk face after all."

"Gee, thanks." I muttered sarcastically.

"Anyway, good luck with Sonny." He smiled encouragingly and ran away, yelling something about someone getting him an iced coffee.

I walked backstage and saw Tawni standing there, with a shocked Sonny standing beside her, gripping the metal staircase.

"Hey, Chad!" Tawni greeted, waving fiercely.

"Hey..." I turned toward her, "You brought Sonny here!?"

"Duh!" She said, "That's why I was late. But don't worry, you did great!"

"I did?"

"Of course! Tawni Hart is _always _right." She tossed her head, "And _pretty_!"

An hour later, we were back at Condor Studios. Tawni, Sonny and I were still here, together. I counted to three, then turned toward Sonny. I stared at her. She stared back.

"Well?" Tawni prompted, "_Speak_!"

"Sonny-" I began, and at the same time, she said, "Chad-"

"You go first." We both said.

"Alright, I'll go." Sonny said, giving me a small smile, "Did you really mean what you said out there?"

"Sonny," I replied, "Didn't I tell you I meant what I said and I said what I meant? Chad Dylan Cooper's-"

"Faithful, one hundred percent." She interrupted, rolling her eyes. "Well, Chad, it took a lot of guts to say that on national television."

"Yes, it did." I retorted, "And Chad Dylan Cooper has guts. So you'd _better_ have forgiven me now." I stared at her, willing her to laugh and say "Yes, Chad, I've forgiven you!" And then we would kiss and have our happy ending, blah, blah blah.

But she didn't. Instead, she smirked and said, "Since you confessed your love for me out there, I have a confession to make too."

"That you're hopelessly in love with me too?" I asked cockily.

"_No_." She said, then muttered something that suspiciously sounded like, "Even though I am." She cleared her throat and smiled her big, wide smile that I'd missed for so long. "Chad, you know that this morning when I said I didn't forgive you _completely_, I was only kidding right?"

I was unable to register what she had said until she waved her hand in front of my face. "You mean- you mean, I did all that for _nothing_?" I shrieked, not caring whether I sounded like a girl or not.

"Not for nothing." She smiled simply, "For me."

"Fine. For you." I huffed.

"Good." Still, she smiled that little knowing smile.

"Good!" I said back, hoping my face wasn't red.

"Fine!"

"Fi-" My words were stopped when a pair of lips found mine.

And you should know whose they were. Because _I _certainly did. It was Sonny Munroe's. Sonny Munroe, the girl who I'd confessed my love for on _television_. Sonny Munroe, who had tricked me into embarrassing myself in front of the whole world.

And Sonny Munroe, the girl who I was now kissing, the girl who I'd wanted to kiss since the day we met, and the girl who had finally, _finally_ forgiven me.

-

"Aw!" Tawni exclaimed, watching from the corner. Nico and Grady grimaced as I grinned and wrapped my arm around Sonny's waist, pulling her back in for another kiss.

"How sweet." Zora said, covering her yawn with her hand.

"_Finally_!" Two new voices said.

We turned and saw Marshall and Xavier, standing by the doorway, grinning and clapping their hands.

"_Marshall_?" Sonny exclaimed.

"_Xavier_?" I asked.

"We made a bet." Marshall explained, rubbing the top of his balding head, "With Mr. Condor."

"Mr. Condor?" We all shouted.

"Yes, Mr. Condor." The one and only Mr. Condor appeared, his arms wide with excitement. "I betted that it would take you-" He pointed to me, "And _you_-" He pointed to Sonny, "A few months to get together." His head drooped down, "But I was wrong."

"And we were right!" Marshall and Xavier said, "We bet it would take them a few _weeks_ to get together!" They jumped up and down.

"Wow." I commented, "Older Nico and Grady."

"I guess this is how we'll be when we're older." Nico added.

"Yeah! I'll be the director of the number one comedy show, and you'll be the director of the number one drama!" Grady exclaimed, "And our shows will be rivals, even though we all know we're all one big family!"

"Exactly." Marshall said, twiddling his thumbs. Geez, the man was nervous wherever he went.

"Pay up." Xavier ordered, rubbing his fingers together. He grinned and I shook my head. Money really _was_ everything.

"Don't boss me around." Mr. Condor boomed, "I'm your boss. Even though I lost this bet, I still have the right to fire you!"

Marshall and Xavier backed away, looking scared.

"Please don't fire us!" Marshall whimpered.

"You don't even have to pay us!" Xavier added.

Mr. Condor grinned and handed them each a big stack of dollar bills. "Just kidding." He winked and walked away, followed his bodyguards or something. Scary-looking dudes. Marshall and Xavier left too, Nico and Grady patted our backs and wandered away, and Zora and Tawni decided to go see Monsters On Ice or something.

"Looks like it's just you and me." Sonny commented, intertwining her hand with mine.

"Is that such a bad thing?" I teased.

"Of course."

"Well, fine." I mocked hurt.

"Fine."

"Good!"

"Good." She grinned, pulling me toward the exit. "Come on, we don't want to be late for our second canoing trip!"

Hand in hand, we walked out of Condor Studios, just in time to see Shane Gray and his band members carrying loads of luggage out of the building.

"Gosh," The one with a curly afro complained, "Could you _be _any girlier?"

"Yeah," The taller one with straight hair added, "Which guy packs this much stuff?"

"_I_ do!" Shane snapped. He turned and caught Sonny and me staring at them. "Hey guys!" He said, smiling.

"Wait," I scowled, "You're _happy_?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well it's just that..." I gestured to Sonny. _My_ Sonny. "You liked her so much before... why aren't you crying about it now?"

He laughed, "You didn't really think I was _that_ evil, did you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, completely mortified. Wasn't Shane evil? He certainly seemed evil when I met him!

"My plan was to get you guys together!" Shane replied, waving the other guys over, "I definitely saw the chemistry between you guys since the minute we _met_. I wasn't going to come between you guys, even if Sonny _was_ one of the cutest girls I've ever met."

She blushed and accidentally kicked me. I grimaced as she quickly apologized. Shane laughed. "So I made this bet with you, Chad, so that you guys could finally be together. _Obviously_."

"He's done things like that before." The curly headed one pointed out.

"Anyway, Sonny's not my type. I have a girlfriend, you know. Mitchie Torres, from Camp Rock." Shane said. "I'm not a two-timing jerk, you know. Camp Rock really _did_ clean up my act."

"So you're leaving?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah. I'm done with all my scenes in _Mack Falls_, and my work here is done." He winked. "So I'll see you guys... someday." He smiled at us, gave us one last wave and walked away. Just before he headed into their limo, he turned back and shouted, "By the way, I knew about your 'mission.'"

"What mission?" I tried to play dumb.

He laughed hysterically. "You're 'mission' to destroy me. Guess it didn't really work out, huh?" Smiling, he climbed in the limo and out of our lives. The limo drove away and I faced Sonny.

"How did he know about that mission?"

She punched my shoulder playfully, "Did you really trust _all_ of the Randoms?" I nodded, frowning. She grinned, "Nico and Grady spilled the beans after I found out about your bet."

"Nico and Grady..." I muttered, evil plans running through my head.

"Don't blame them," She commanded, "I asked."

I sighed, "Well, I definitely can't kill you."

"Of course not. And _that's_ a good thing, Chad Dylan Cooper."

That night, I thought hard. Thought that maybe the reason I'd made this bet with Shane wasn't because I wanted to win a competition. That maybe the _real_ mission this entire time was to finally tell Sonny how I felt about her. I smiled as I thought of one thing:

_That this mission was complete._

Oh, and that maybe Mr. Stupidpants/Shane Gray, wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

a/n: no, the story is _not_ done yet! there's still one more chapter to go, the way cool epilogue that everyone loves because it's filled with channy fluff! hahah

so yeah, i'm really proud of this chapter. 5,170 words baby. definitely a work of art. don't you think? ;) tell me how you felt about this chapter.... by posting...

_Ace- you loved it_

_Jack- you thought it was okay_

_queen- you hated it _

so who started school already? random question, lol.

-hayley

**thanks so much to: **

Bhavana331, lalawriter2000, ginbug, WatchMeShine13, JesicaJinx, nanny kiwi gurl, RandomTaylor13, sonnycentral, Sarah Moss, alliebearlove, fcktherulesx3, klcthenerd, xxHeadInTheStarsxx, Kevin The Burrito, TA-SWAC-CONVERSELOVER, SexiLexiReturns, DeanCastiel, UnmistakablyAlice, TrinityFlower of Memories, li'miss sunshine, OMG-its-a-pen, Yummy Yummy Bubblegum, HorriblyAddicted, daseyisluv, ChannyandSterlinglover1123, charmed4eva112, have-a-cookie, rosepetals186, and Cammie Morgan

**for reviewing!**

27 reviews for one chapter?! you guys are the best (:


	9. The Happy Ending That Everyone Loves

a/n: ack! the epilogue is coming! the epilogue is coming! this note is short... but don't worry, if you love super long author notes, check out the bottom after you're done reading :)

**disclaimer: **i don't own anything except the plot.

* * *

**Mission: Destroy Shane Gray**

by_ Mindless Scribbles_

_-_

-9-

Epilogue: The Happy Ending That Everybody Loves

_-_

_And they all lived happily ever after._

_~Every Fairytale Book in the Whole Entire Universe_

What pops into your mind when you hear the word 'sun?'

For me, definitely Sonny. She and I had been dating for a year now. It was official, and everyone knew it, just like how everyone knew that I was the greatest actor of our generation. Because really, who could deny it?

Nobody, that's who.

So when I woke up, looked out the window, and I saw the bright, yellow sun, guess what I thought of? That's right. Sonny Munroe, my girlfriend. It was _so_ great to finally say that now (even though I'd been bragging about it for a year). Guess what else was _so_ awesome to say?

Chad Dylan Cooper was dating Sonny Munroe, suckas!

I sighed, fully content and hopped out of bed. I took a quick shower and brushed my pearly white teeth, dressing in my usual casual clothing since we didn't need to work today. My phone rang just in time as I was heading out the door.

"CDC here, what it _do_?"

A sigh. "Chad, stop answering your phone with that sentence."

I stopped, my heart pounding. "Sonny?"

And a sarcastic remark, "No, it's cloudy."

I groaned, "Sonny, cheer up. It's our one-year anniversary!"

She chuckled, "Wow, who knew that Chad Dylan Cooper would be the one begging for his girlfriend to cheer up? _And_ bring up the subject about our anniversary."

"_Sonny_..." I used my 'teasing warning tone.'

"_Chad_..." She mocked me, then laughed, "Okay, I'll see you when you get here."

I smiled, "Okay, bye." She hung up.

So what exactly were we doing? Good question.

We were going canoing. Yep, canoing. Canoing at that canoing place where our first date was. Somehow, we'd managed to make that spot _our_ place. But I wasn't complaining; it had a gorgeous view of the lake, _canoing_ of course, and even though it wasn't what I'd pictured to be our special place, I could still spend time my Sonshine. And spending time with Sonny made CDC happy.

Not much had changed since Sonny and I had gotten together. _So Random!_ was still its little funny show, _Mackenzie Falls_ axed characters and received new ones. Condor Studios now produced more shows, meaning our studio's ratings were higher than ever, which meant Mr. Condor was a happy man.

As for the rivalry between our shows, there were still hints of it there, but it looked as if everyone had gotten past it. Nico and Grady found out that Skyler and Ferguson had a lot in common with them- now they spend lots of time together plotting revenge against people they hate, and thinking up pointless pranks that no one appreciates. Chastity was introduced to Zora, making her think that she was the cutest little 11 year old ever. She spends a lot of her free time giving makeovers and going on shopping sprees with the poor girl- but at least Zora gets her revenge by planting the snake next to Chastity every once in a while.

Tawni and Portlyn looked past their complexions, actually breaking down and admitting that they were jealous of each other. So now, they go shopping together, giggling about how ugly other people were, and giving 'Tawni and Portlyn' tips to other girls on the lot.

And so now, what do you know? All that adds up to the fact that our tables in the cafeteria were joined together, everyone mixing it up, and us _Falls_ getting the Randoms actual food to eat. The Randoms were never more thankful than the day they saw a lobster on their plates.

In between rehearsal, taping, and spending time with our cast members, Sonny and I still found lots of time for each other. Sure, we still argued like crazy, but we still found ourselves hugging, smiling, and (wink, wink) kissing each other.

I drove toward Sonny's apartment, jumping out of my car when I got there. I knocked on the door, and when it opened, I expected to see Sonny, or even Connie, Sonny's mom. But instead I saw...

Grady.

Grady!?

"Grady?" I asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, it's not just me, Pooper!" He grinned, shoving the door open, "It's everyone!" I peered inside and saw a decorative banner hung across the ceiling, displaying the words, "Happy One-Year!" There were balloons everywhere, and the bodies of the casts of _Mackenzie Falls_ and _So Random!_ were scattered across the floor, grinning at me.

"So..." I wrinkled my nose, "We're _all_ going canoing?"

Everyone laughed and I stared at them, confused.

"Oh, we'll canoe," Tawni explained, "But then we're all going to _party_!"

"For what?" Geez, I was slow today.

Everyone stared at me. "For your one-year anniversary, stupid!" Nico said, laughing. I nodded, then tried to search for Sonny. I spotted her and cornered her.

"Did _you_ know about this?"

She grinned, "Of course I did!"

"And you_ really_ want to do this?" I asked.

She looked at me, "CDC doesn't want to party?" Her eyebrows rose and she grinned, signaling for everyone to pay attention to her, "Okay, party's off everyone-"

I tried to stop her. I mean seriously, who doesn't like to _party_? "No! I was making sure!"

"You sure?" She challenged me. I grinned and leaned down, planting a kiss on her.

"Oh, get a room!" Someone yelled.

Sonny stepped away, grinning, and lacing her fingers with mine, "Alright, everyone. Let's canoe!"

-

"You _know_ I'm better at canoing!" I argued.

"_No_, you're not!" Sonny said, "Just admit it. CDC isn't as good as canoing as Sonny Munroe!"

"No, _I'm_-"

"Just compete if you really want to know!" Tawni shrieked stamping her foot.

I huffed (and puffed and _blew_ the house down. Not really) and strode up the lady (the same lady that worked here when Sonny and I came here for the first time) and barked, "10." She glared at me and I added forcefully, "_Please_."

Sonny grinned and said, "He really means it."

The lady smiled and gave 9 out, then threw the last one at me.

"Hey!" I yelled, "I thought I told you that no one can throw life jackets at _Chad Dylan-" _

"Yeah, no one cares." Sonny said, pulling me toward the boats.

"_I_ care."

"No one cares about that either." She smirked. "Ready to lose, Cooper?"

I stuck out my tongue at her, ignoring her snide remark about how immature I was. "In your dreams, Munroe."

We were off.

I was in the lead! I turned around and grinned at Sonny, who was struggling to keep up. "What now, Sonny?" I asked.

She glared at me, then immediately stopped looking like she was lost and began catching up to me, bumping my boat which made me fall into my water.

"What was that for?" I asked, swimming toward her.

She laughed hysterically, "_That _was funny!"

I smirked then tilted her boat until she fell overboard. The others laughed as they passed, each partnered up and rowing smoothly along the lake. I reached for the boat and hoisted myself up, wringing out my shirt as best as I could. Sonny cleared her throat and I rolled my eyes, reaching for her hand and helping her up too.

"I think that maybe we should just do this together." She suggested.

"I think so too." I agreed. "Come on." She stepped over and into my canoe, plopping down.

"But what are we going to do about this extra one?" She asked, looking at her abandoned boat.

"Oh please," I scoffed, "Who cares? I bet someone else will be _dying_ to get it once they find out that Sonny Munroe sat in it."

"_Chad_," She whined, "Stop sweet talking me into doing something bad!" I grinned as we began to row away. Chad Dylan Cooper was a wet, happy guy. And best of all, he was the boyfriend of Sonny Munroe.

Yeah, I couldn't resist saying it again.

We rowed silently for a while. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence- you know, the one where you feel like you're supposed to say something, but can't think of anything as cool as Chad Dylan Cooper to say. It was a comfortable silence. I felt like I could just keep sitting here, moving slowly along the water with Sonny by my side forever.

"Why'd you do it?" Sonny suddenly asked, stopping for a little bit.

"What do you mean?" I fumbled with the oar, and we paddled around in a circle.

"Why'd you apologize to me so many times? What if I never forgave you? What would you have done then?" She asked.

"Whoa," I said, holding up a hand to stop her. Looked like I wasn't the only one that asked so many questions. "One question at a time, okay?" She looked at me expectantly, waiting for some answers. I sighed, "I already told you. I had to keep apologizing until I thought I said sorry enough. Until I thought that I had said and done all that I could to make it up to you."

"And?" She inquired.

"And if you would have never forgiven me," I paused dramatically, but when she slapped my arm hard, I winced and continued, "Then I would probably have to make myself move on. But even if I'd started dating, or even _married_ another girl, you would still be there, in the back of my mind, haunting me, _killing_ me, and eventually I'd commit suicide."

Her eyes widened, "Seriously?" She squeaked.

I burst out laughing at her expression. "No! I mean, I meant it all about how I would probably still love you, even though you didn't love me back, but..."

"You love me?" She whispered.

I toyed around with my thoughts. If I told her no, I would be lying, and when I did that a year ago, she'd gotten so furious with me. But what if I told her yes? Would she laugh in my face? She snapped in front of me and I blurted out, "Yeah. I do."

She looked down and mumbled, "I know I'm supposed to say I love back, but I'm just not comfortable with it yet and-"

I cut her off. "It's okay. When you're ready, you can say it."

She smiled sweetly at me, "Aww, Chad Dylan Cooper, you're unbelievable."

I frowned, confused at whether I should be happy or not. "That's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Good." I returned back to my cocky self and arrogantly said, "Chad Dylan Cooper's unbelievable. That sounds about right."

Sonny rolled her eyes and splashed me with her oar. I gasped loudly and spashed her back. And all of a sudden, everyone was rowing back, and everyone was splashing each other, getting soaked in the process.

I didn't want to admit it, but I had so much fun. My girlfriend was here, my friends were here, and the sun was shining brightly, as if it were smiling at us.

Chad Dylan Cooper used a simile. You got a problem with that?

But besides that, I had to admit: life was pretty sweet.

-

After everyone dried off at home, we all met up again at Tawni's huge, _pink _mansion. I stared in awe at the pinkness of the house as Sonny said, "How did you manage to get your whole house painted _pink_?"

"I'm Tawni Hart." She said, flipping her hair, "I can do _anything_."

Apparently, she'd invited the whole five shows that were filmed at Condor Studios. "Seriously, Tawni?" I asked.

Sonny punched my shoulder, "The more, the merrier."

"Only _you_ would say that."

"But only _I_ am your girlfriend." She replied.

"That you are." I grinned.

"Come on!" She said, pulling me toward the 'dance floor.' "Let's _boogie_!"

"And only you would say that too."

"Are you going to dance or not?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

"Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't dance," I began, then realized that I sounded like a complete loser, "I-I mean, Chad Dylan Cooper can not dance if he wanted to, even _if_ he's the best dancer of our generation."

"I thought you were the best actor of our generation." Sonny frowned.

I smirked at her, "Your words, not mine."

"What? _You _were the one who was saying that the whole time! Your words were 'I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, the best actor of our generation!'" She mimicked me, using that high pitched voice.

"But I am." I said firmly.

She sighed, "Yeah, you are."

I stared in shock at her, "What? What did you just say?"

"I _said_, you are."

I grinned, "Don't worry. I can be the best _actor _of our generation, but there's still room for the best _actress _of our generation." She smiled back, waiting for my response. I laughed and said, "And that would be Selena Gomez."

She whacked my arm, "You _jerk_."

I laughed hysterically for a moment, then wrapped my arms around, embracing her in a bear hug, saying the exact same thing I'd told her today, only from earlier "I love you, Sonny Munroe."

She pushed me away, and while I stared at her, waiting for her to say something, she smiled that smile that made me go weak at the knees and said something I'd been waiting to hear ever since I'd met her, "Chad Dylan Cooper, I love you too."

_The End_

* * *

a/n: wow. it's done. it's over. oh my gosh! i'm still in shock. are you?

hahah

anyway, i wanna thank you all _so_ so much for sticking with me throughout this whole thing, especially the ones who were anonymous. isn't it incredibly hard to follow stories when you don't really know when they're updated? hahah.

i really hope it wins the uncliché the cliché contest. :] moving on, thank you:

**those who reviewed:** xxHeadInTheStarsxx. **LoveStar1026**_. sonnycentral._ klcthenerd. JesicaJinx. **Aurora.** _awesometastic9. _obsessedwithbooks. cocosunshine23. **UnmistakablyAlice.**_ Literati Lover. _0Sally0. Sunset Clouds. **sky12**. _random78. _FlamingxxRoses. making it to dawn. **Taylaa. **_ScribblesOfLove. _stupid-cookie-cutter-popstar. HorriblyAddicted. **WatchMeShine13. **_DeanCastiel. _TrinityFlower of Memories. lilo. **Kevin the Burrito. **_RandomTaylor13. _kenzosaurus. alliebearlove. **Yummy Yummy Bubblegum. **_vii. _hannahpie45. xoOhhMyyEdward. **have-a-cookie. **_vizallati. _wildfire1001. cleverkateroo. **/////. **_May Lily._ Bhavana331. AllyKnight. **xXLoveBeingDifferentXx. **_LilHaven. _TA-SWAC-CONVERSELOVER. li'miss sunshine. **lp2014. **_BlackMidnight1. _SexiLexiReturns. Capt. Butch Flowers. **ChannyandSterlingLover1123. **_fcktherulesx3. _lalawriter2000

**those who favorited (sorry, I'm too lazy to list them all, plus, a lot of you are the same as above), and those who alerted (same. haha)**

so who loves this super long a/n? anyway, i just wanted to let you know that i have a couple of oneshots up in that noggin of mine, which will probably be written down, and posted. i also have a lot of multi-chaptered stories up there too, so put me in author alert if you wish (:

in the meantime, while we're all waiting for the stories to be posted (haha, just kidding), why not drop by and send me a PM? i promise i'm not mean and i'll answer it. :)

so this is your last chance to tell me how you felt about this story.

_dinosaurs: you loved it_

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post two of these codewords please: one for this chapter, and one for the whole story.

also, please tell me _why_ you posted the codewords. for example, tell me your favorite chapter/ favorite line/ what you liked/ what you didn't like/ how i could improve, etc, etc. it really means a lot to me when you do that (:

so anyway, thanks again for sticking around and reading this! love you all, and maybe i'll see you at another one of my stories :D

-hayley (:


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